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Virtual reality advertising campaigns allow consumers to interact with companies in a novel way. This study examined how individual differences in power usage (confidence using technology in innovative and functional ways) and the trust-schema (trustworthiness perception of a company) interact to affect consumers’ experience of control, attitudinal outcomes, and behavioral intentions (sharing their VR experience). The findings revealed that power users are more likely to recommend VR experiences, have a positive attitude toward VR experiences, and share their experiences, than non-power users. However, these effects were moderated by consumers’ trust-schema levels. Power users were less sensitive to the effect of trust-schema than non-power users. The implications of the findings and future studies on the emerging metaverse were further discussed.

Background: Nelonemdaz is a multitarget neuroprotectant that selectively blocks N-methyl-D-aspartate receptors and scavenges free radicals, as proven in preclinical ischemia-reperfusion studies. We aimed to evaluate the safety and efficacy of nelonemdaz in patients with acute ischemic stroke receiving endovascular reperfusion therapy. Methods: This phase II randomized trial involved participants with large-artery occlusion in the anterior circulation at baseline who received endovascular reperfusion therapy Results: Two hundred eight patients were assigned to the placebo (n=70), low-dose (n=71), and high-dose (n=67) groups. The groups had similar baseline characteristics. The primary outcome was achieved in 183 patients, and it did not differ among the groups (33/61 [54.1%], 40/65 [61.5%], and 36/57 [63.2%] patients; P =0.5578). The common odds ratio (90% CI) indicating a favorable shift in the modified Rankin Scale scores at 12 weeks was 1.55 (0.92–2.60) between the placebo and low-dose groups and 1.61 (0.94–2.76) between the placebo and high-dose groups. No serious adverse events were reported. Conclusions: The study arms showed no significant difference in the proportion of patients achieving modified Rankin Scale scores of 0–2 at 12 weeks. Nevertheless, nelonemdaz-treated patients showed a favorable tendency toward achieving these scores at 12 weeks, without serious adverse effects. Thus, a large-scale phase III trial is warranted. Registration: URL: https://clinicaltrials.gov ; Unique identifier: NCT02831088.

Background In Asian women who undergo facelift surgery, satisfying results are achieved for facial rhytides, but there have been complaints concerning malar prominence and mandible angle region postoperatively. Anatomically, compared with the Caucasians, the Asians have a thick skin and a wide and short facial geometry. The Asians generally have a protruded zygoma and prominent mandible angles; accordingly, their bony contouring surgery that is the base frame in facelift must be considered. The authors aimed to investigate the effects of performing facial contouring surgery and facelift simultaneously to achieve oval facial contour and youthful face. Methods The authors assessed 21 Asian women who simultaneously underwent facial contouring surgery with facelift between March 2014 and March 2018. The clinical results were assessed based on preoperative and postoperative photographs and the global aesthetic improvement scale score. Results Surgery was successful in all patients. Postoperatively, improvements in facial rhytides and appropriate facial contour were achieved. All patients were satisfied with the outcomes. Some patients experienced short-term complication; however, these complications improved. Serious long-term complications were not noted. Conclusions Highly satisfying outcomes can be achieved with combined facial contouring surgery and facelift for Asian women with a wide face.

Twitter has become an important means of communicating alcohol industry CSR campaigns. However, little is known about individual differences in consumer responses to CSR campaigns in the context of...

SummaryThe smut fungi are one of the largest groups of fungal plant pathogens, causing disease in all cereal crops. They directly penetrate their hosts and establish a biotrophic interaction. During colonization of the plant, smut fungi secrete a wide range of effector proteins, which suppress plant immunity and modulate cellular functions as well as development of the host, thereby determining the pathogen’s life-style and virulence potential.The conserved effector Erc1 (enzyme required for cell-to-cell movement) contributes to virulence of the corn smut Ustilago maydis in maize leaves, but not on the tassel. Erc1 binds to host cell wall components and has a 1,3-β-glucanase activity, which is required to attenuate β-glucan-induced defense responses in host leaves. Confocal microscopy revealed that Erc1 has a cell type-specific virulence function, being necessary for fungal cell-to-cell movement in the plant bundle sheath. This cell type-specific virulence function of Erc1 is fully conserved in the barley pathogen Ustilago hordei, which has a functionally conserved Erc1 orthologue.Thus, Erc1 is an enzymatically active core virulence factor with a cell type-specific virulence function in different hosts, which is important for cell-to-cell movement during host colonization of pathogenic smut fungi.

This study investigates whether recreational marijuana legislation and perceived social norms (descriptive and injunctive) affect college students’ propensity to share pro-marijuana messages. We ex...

Background In Asian women who undergo facelift procedures, satisfying results are achieved for facial rhytides, but sometimes there are postoperative complaints concerning the mandibular angle. Unlike Caucasians, Asians generally have a prominent mandibular angle. Accordingly, bone contouring surgery must be considered, since the bones of the face serve as the frame for facelift surgery. We investigated the effects of simultaneously performing mandibular angle reduction and facelift to achieve an oval facial contour and a youthful face. Methods We evaluated 17 Asian women who simultaneously underwent mandibular angle reduction and facelift between April 2016 and May 2018. The clinical results were assessed based on preoperative and postoperative photographs and the Global Aesthetic Improvement Scale. Results Surgery was successful in all cases. Postoperatively, improvements in facial rhytides and appropriate mandibular contours were achieved. All patients were satisfied with the outcomes. Some patients experienced short-term complications, such as hematoma and numbness of the skin above the incision line; however, these complications improved. Serious long-term complications were not noted. Conclusions Highly satisfying outcomes can be achieved with combined mandibular angle reduction and facelift for Asian women with a wide and rectangular face.

Background In Asian women who undergo facelift surgery, satisfactory results are typically achieved with regard to facial rhytides, but concerns have been reported regarding the postoperative appearance of the malar prominence region. Anatomically, compared to Caucasians, Asians have thick skin and a wide and short facial geometry. Asians generally exhibit zygomatic protrusion; accordingly, bone contouring surgery, which alters the base frame used in a facelift, should be considered. We aimed to investigate the effects of simultaneous reduction malarplasty and facelift to achieve appropriate malar repositioning and a youthful-looking face. Methods We assessed 16 Asian women who underwent simultaneous reduction malarplasty and facelift between March 2014 and March 2018. The clinical results were assessed based on preoperative and postoperative photographs and Global Aesthetic Improvement Scale scores. Results Surgery was successful in all cases. Postoperative improvement with regard to facial rhytides and appropriate malar repositioning were achieved. All patients were satisfied with the outcomes. Some patients experienced short-term complications, but their conditions improved. Serious long-term complications were not noted. Conclusions Highly satisfactory outcomes can be achieved with combined reduction malarplasty and facelift for Asian women with wide faces.

This study examined how social norms can be formed differently across gender in the context of perceiving an alcohol company’s corporate social responsibility (CSR) campaigns on social media (Faceb...

SiC fibers can be obtained by the spinning, curing, and heat treatment of polycarbosilane (PCS); however, the properties of the PCS precursor must be considered to set the correct spinning conditions. Although many studies have focused on the synthesis conditions, the characterization (in particular, the structural characteristics) of PCS fibers, and the polymer itself has limitations. In this study, PCS was prepared in two steps, and the growth of the polymer with respect to the reaction conditions was analyzed. We found that PCS is formed and grown by the rearrangement and subsequent condensation reactions of polydimethylsilane (PDMS). Further, fiber formation was affected by the reaction temperature, time, and pressure. Three types of PCS were obtained under different synthetic conditions, and they were all characterized. Regardless of the structural similarity of the PCS fibers (based on the spectroscopic analysis), the polymers showed different thermal and rheological properties. Our findings will be important in improving the production of PCS fibers (and subsequent SiC fibers) with finely controlled properties.

This study examines a unique context for corporate social responsibility (CSR) initiatives in the form of a virtual reality (VR) video featuring a quasi-experimental design that was sponsored by an...

We propose a model on the role of interdependent self-value and group opinion climate in affecting individuals’ willingness to participate in online political discussions, as well as the underlying mechanisms through which such effects may take place. We test this model in an experiment, in which participants (N = 406) with different levels of interdependent self-value read a message that promotes participation in discussions about genetically modified foods in an online group characterized by a friendly, hostile, or mixed opinion climate. Results show that those with high interdependent self-value are more likely to engage in online civic discussions via in-depth information processing of the discussion promotion messages. This central information processing was more likely to mediate the effect of interdependent self-value on willingness to discuss when individuals encountered polarized (i.e., friendly or hostile) public opinion than a neutral opinion climate.

Cryptosporidium spp. and Giardia duodenalis are protozoan parasites that cause diarrhea in humans and animals. Molecular data on Cryptosporidium spp. and G. duodenalis in calves in the Republic of Korea (ROK) is limited; thus, we investigated the prevalence of Cryptosporidium and Giardia in pre-weaned calves, analyzed the association between these parasites and diarrhea, and identified their zoonotic potential for human infection. Fecal samples were collected from 315 pre-weaned calves aged 1-60 days from 10 different regions in the ROK and screened for Cryptosporidium spp. and G. duodenalis using PCR. Overall prevalence of Cryptosporidium spp. and G. duodenalis was 4.4% (n = 14) and 12.7% (n = 40), respectively. Co-infection was not detected. All Cryptosporidium-positive samples were identified as C. parvum after sequence analysis of a small subunit rRNA fragment and further subtyped into zoonotic IIaA15G2R1 (n = 13) and IIaA18G3R1 (n = 1) by DNA sequencing of the 60-kDa glycoprotein gene. To our knowledge, this is the first report of C. parvum IIaA15G2R1 subtype in calves in the ROK. Based on β-giardin (bg) gene, G. duodenalis-positive samples belonged to assemblages E (n = 36) and A (n = 4), with the latter belonging to subtype A1, the zoonotic genotype. Six subtypes of assemblage E were identified at the bg locus: E1 (n = 6), E2 (n = 3), E3 (n = 13), E5 (n = 1), E8 (n = 1), and E11 (n = 1). The occurrence of C. parvum and G. duodenalis was not associated with diarrhea in pre-weaned Korean native calves. The present results suggest that the prevalence of C. parvum is not related to calf age; in contrast, the prevalence of G. duodenalis was significantly higher in 41-50-day-old calves (odds ratio = 9.90, 95% confidence interval 2.37-41.34; P = 0.001) than in 1-10-day-old calves. Therefore, calves are a potential source of zoonotic transmission, which may have significant public health implications.

Acknowledging the unique challenges of the socially stigmatized industry and the substantial but varying impact of COVID-19 on business, this study examined how corporate social responsibility (CSR) fit influences public attitudinal and behavioral responses. This study found that low (high) CSR fit generated a higher level of public-serving motive (firm-serving motive) than high (low) fit CSR. The fit effect on public-serving motives was changed by the valence of the COVID-19 impact (negative vs. positive) on the financial performance. This study also found that the fit affects attitudinal and behavioral intentions (word of mouth) mediated via public-serving motives, moderated by the valence of the pandemic impact. The findings hold implications for the stigmatized industry companies' CSR initiatives in the context of the unexpected crisis, like the pandemic.

This study examines how individuals may engage with online donation behaviors by comparing two donation conditions: a public context and a private context. The study findings suggest that interdepe...

Recently, attempts have been made to use silicon carbide (SiC) ceramics as a fuel compact in nuclear reactors. However, the use of sintering additives in the conventional sintering of SiC leads to a coarse microstructure with high porosity and large grains due to the low sinterability and the large amount of grain boundaries or a second phase, deteriorating the mechanical properties, and hence limiting widespread industrial applications. In this study, polycarbosilane (PCS) and spark plasma sintering (SPS) as the SiC precursor and sintering method, respectively, were applied to overcome the low sinterability and the use of sintering additives. As the raw material, amorphous PCS was prepared by pyrolysis at 1000 °C. To decrease the particle size, pyrolyzed PCS powder was subjected to ball milling by using high-energy ball milling. The ball-milled amorphous PCS powder was sintered by SPS. Sintering was carried out at different temperatures (i.e., 1700, 1800, and 1900 °C) and pressures (i.e., 40 and 80 MPa). After SPS, the core/rim structure of the sintered pellet was formed on account of the oxygen originating from the native oxide layer and free carbon in the PCS powder as the raw materials. In the core/rim structure comprising the core, as well as the intermediate and rim regions, the microstructure and chemistry of each region exhibited marginal difference with respect to the free carbon and oxygen. The phase fraction of α-SiC increased from the rim region to core region due to the discrepancy of actual loaded pressure on account of friction with the wall surface. The existing carbon was verified to be graphitized carbon. Owing to the short reaction time, graphitization did not completely proceed, and deficient graphitization led to graphitized carbon as not graphite. The introduced oxygen changed to amorphous SiO2, which was applied to the sintering-additive-like liquid-phase sintering.

This study investigated the effects of consumers9 underlying value orientations to determine whether consumers respond differently to corporate social responsibility (CSR) initiatives depending on age. The findings suggest that younger consumers more likely had favorable responses to CSR advertising than older consumers. Floodlight analysis—derived from an earlier method (Johnson and Neyman, 1936)—suggests that although millennials did not support CSR initiatives motivated by a vertical collectivistic orientation, such as fulfilling duties, consumers from Generation X and baby boomers did. Baby boomers did not use a horizontal individualism value (e.g., freedom and uniqueness) in evaluating advertisers9 motives in supporting social causes, whereas millennials and Generation X consumers did.

Numerous studies have observed arousal and mood effects on ad processing, but no study has examined the ways in which the core arousal effect in humor advertising, which could make or break humor a...

This study examines the impact of Twitter followers and consumer skepticism on issue support behavior advocated in Twitter-based corporate social responsibility (CSR) communication. A 2 × 2 experim...

Despite the multitude of available alternatives, the Grignard coupling-based synthesis of polycarbosilanes remains attractive, offering the benefit of easy structural design. Moreover, this method allows one to obtain a polymer precursor with the stoichiometric Si : C ratio required for SiC ceramic production and is also suited for the synthesis of polymers containing curable functional groups (e.g., allyl and vinyl). Herein, vinyl-substituted hydridopolycarbosilane was synthesized from three different starting materials (Cl3SiCH2Cl, (MeO)3SiCH2Cl, and (EtO)3SiCH2Cl) using Grignard coupling, and the effects of starting material on polymer growth behavior were investigated. The alkoxysilane starting materials had the advantage of being safe to handle, but had a limitation in polymer growth. The largest molecular weight was observed for Cl3SiCH2Cl, although side reactions occurred. This behavior was ascribed to the retention of unreacted –SiCH2Cl groups contributing to polymer growth via coupling with neighboring polymer chains.

Previous studies have investigated how Chinese and Korean immigrant mothers adjust to life in the US in order to understand their lives and help them to adapt to the new culture. Based on acculturation and mobile media theories, this study explores particularly how Chinese and Korean immigrant mothers’ child-rearing practices in the US are mediated by mobile media. Guided by the theoretical framework of interpretative phenomenological analysis (IPA), we conducted 16 in-depth interviews with Chinese and Korean immigrant mothers. Findings reveal that while going through the acculturation process, Chinese and Korean immigrant mothers attempt to play the traditional social role of mother as defined in their home countries when utilizing mobile media in their new home. Mobile media have symbolic meanings of empowerment and can be used as tools to deal with prejudice in the host country. This study also suggests that mobile media may mediate Chinese and Korean immigrant mothers’ acculturation processes when adopting different types of acculturation strategies (e.g., integration or separation). Implications for practice and future studies are further discussed.

The primary purpose of this study was to examine factors that influence the effectiveness of benefit appeal types (i.e., help-other vs. help-self) in Corporate Social Responsibility adverti...

Social networking sites are increasingly used to promote corporate social responsibility initiatives. Consumers can like, share, or comment on corporate social responsibility messages on social networking sites, signaling public approval or disapproval and affecting an individual's perceived legitimacy of the organization. Especially for controversial companies, such as alcohol brands, both perceived legitimacy of a cause and consumer purchase intention might be enhanced by expressions of public support on social networking sites. However, few studies have explored this relationship. The findings from Experiment 1 suggest that the number of followers (low vs. high) affected perceived legitimacy and purchase intention. Experiment 2 revealed that the effects of comment valence on attitudinal and behavioral intention interacted with the number of followers. These findings advance our current knowledge of factors associated with perceived legitimacy of companies that promote corporate social responsibility campaigns on social networking sites. Implications for advertising research and practice are discussed.

In this study, we prepared a perfectly ordered nacre-mimetic composite from plate-like alumina particles and epoxy resin using a rolling method. A specific feature of this method is that it progressively aligns the component particles along a single direction regardless of the product thickness at resin contents as low as 25 wt%. The obtained composite exhibited a strength as high as 200 MPa during bending. However, to examine the mechanical properties of artificial nacre, various factors such as the types of initial components and their particle sizes, contents, and orientation degrees must be considered. Hence, this study consists of two parts. The present work (which constitutes the first part) is focused on the orientation effect produced by the plate-like particles and deformation behavior of the composites observed at different orientation degrees. It was found that the obtained composite material with perfectly ordered particles exhibited pull-out behavior similar to that of natural nacre (including the crack propagation route). Further, the fracture toughness of the composite, which was higher than that of alumina, was also affected by its orientation degree.

This study examined dynamic interactions among self-values leading consumers to self-reference corporate social responsibility (CSR) advertising sponsored by three industries: oil, juice, and pharmaceuticals. The findings revealed that when consumers highly valued businesses9 involvement in social causes, their motives to impress others or increase status significantly affected purchase intentions via self-referencing CSR advertising. For highly issue-involved consumers who did not believe in a business9s involvement in social causes, the status motive indirectly affected purchase intention through self-referencing in a negative direction when they viewed an oil company9s CSR advertising. This finding was not present for CSR advertisements sponsored by the other industries.

Background The purpose of this study was to investigate the efficacy of muscle energy techniques (MET) of upper trapezius and sternocleidomastoid muscles on Bell’s palsy. Methods In this retrospective study, we screened the medical records of patients with Bell’s palsy who had received inpatient and outpatient treatment at the Department of Acupuncture & Moxibustion, Korean Medicine Hospital Dong-Eui University between November 28, 2016 and April 30, 2017. A total of 34 out of 93 Bell’s palsy patients met the inclusion criteria. The 34 patients were divided into two groups: Group A patients had undergone Korean–Western combination treatment and MET of upper trapezius and sternocleidomastoid muscles; Group B patients had undergone Korean–Western combination treatment only. MET of upper trapezius and sternocleidomastoid muscles had been performed three times a week during the inpatient period, and two to three times a week during the outpatient period. Yanagihara scores had been assessed at the first visit, and 1, 2, 3, and 4 weeks after the first visit. Results Group A Yanagihara scores were significantly improved during each interval from the first visit to 4 weeks later. Group B Yanagihara scores were also significantly improved except during the first week. During every period, the improvements observed in Yanagihara score were significantly higher in Group A than in Group B. Conclusions These results suggest that MET of upper trapezius and sternocleidomastoid muscles may be effective treatment for Bell’s palsy.

Background The aim of this study was to identify well-supported evidence to aid medical treatment of temporomandibular disorder or dysfunction (TMD) in Korea by analyzing the correlation between TMD and body posture in recent international research. Methods We looked for recent clinical studies on TMD and body posture in Korean and English databases. Bias risk was estimated using the Risk of Bias Assessment Tool for Non-Randomized Studies and the Cochrane Risk of Bias Tool for assessing randomized controlled studies. Results Nine clinical studies, published between 2005 and 2017, were analyzed. In each, TMD was assessed using the American Academy of Orofacial Pain diagnostic criteria and the Research Diagnostic Criteria for Temporomandibular Disorder. Six studies evaluated body posture using photographs, four studies used stabilometry, and one used both photographs and stabilometry. Conclusions Six of the nine studies found a correlation between TMD and body posture. Well-designed randomized controlled trials are needed to provide more data to assess the validity of this correlation.

This study examines motivational factors (Facebook prevention-social norms and dissatisfaction with drinking experiences) to encourage college students to visit and comment on a binge drinking prev...

The present study applies motivated reasoning and costly signaling theory to examine whether consumers transfer stereotypical race-related attributes to their evaluations of companies' socially responsible advertisements. The study compares corporate socially responsible advertisements featuring different model races and cultural cues in order to meet consumers' motives to impress others by supporting CSR initiatives. Results (N = 754) of a 2 × 2 × 4 experiment reveal that strong ethnic identifiers among Asian Americans are more likely to make a costly signaling behavior when ads feature a white model with white cultural cues by attributing higher social status to whites' images, which is mediated by conspicuous consumption motives. Interestingly, ethnic identification among white Americans is also a strong predictor in making costly signaling behavior with socially responsible products.

Nacre is a natural organic-inorganic hybrid composite, whose hierarchical structure has a complex influence on its high strength. Many structural features have been discovered, which influence the mechanical properties of nacre, and the authors have a particular interest in the role of the asperities and organic-inorganic interactions. In this study, a composite was prepared which mimics the asperity structure using clay minerals. Organic-inorganic bonding was induced with silane treatment. Both factors increased the yield strength of the composites; however, different deformation behavior was exhibited. It was found that asperities improved the strength of the composite, and that composition influences the stiffness of the composite. The organic-inorganic interaction between the resin and the other components of the composite reduced the deformation of the composite and consequently improved strength.