• Journal of the Society of Cosmetic Scientists of Korea
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• v.48 no.4
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• pp.373-383
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• 2022

Inflammation caused by active oxygen and the resulting barrier damage have been consistently pointed out as the cause of wrinkle formation. In this study, effective index ingredient search and efficacy analysis were performed to verify the value of use as a functional cosmetic material related to antioxidant, anti-inflammatory and skin barrier improvement, and anti-aging for extracts of four types of Eleutherococcus divaricatus var. chiisanensis (ED), Eleutherococcus senticosus (EN), Eleutherococcus sessiliflorus (ES), and Eleutherococcus sieboldianus (EI) belonging to the Eleutherococcus genus. To identify the effective index composition, the content of the ingredients was measured by high-performance liquid chromatography. The content of eleutheroside E and chlorogenic acid was the highest in ED among the Eleutherococcus genus. As for anti-oxidant activity, DPPH radical scavenging activity was the highest in ED. In anti-inflammatory effects, ED extracts inhibited nitric oxide generation in inflammatory macrophage cells due to lipopolysaccharide by 40% at 100 ㎍/mL. In the case of IL-6 inhibition, which is known as a pro-inflammatory cytokine, ED showed 41% inhibition at 100 ㎍/mL. In addition, filaggrin and involucrin, which are skin barrier-related factors, were increased by 2.5 times and 1.6 times, respectively, in 100 ㎍/mL of ED extracts, and as for the collagenase, which is a wrinkle-related factor, ED extract showed 29% efficacy at 100 ㎍/mL. Thus, these result suggested that ED extract, among the four Eleutherococcus genus, can be used as a cosmetic ingredient for suppressing inflammation in the skin, reinforcing the skin barrier, and reducing wrinkles.

• Journal of the Korea Organic Resources Recycling Association
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• v.31 no.3
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• pp.15-25
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• 2023

In this study, silicon sludge from semiconductor dicing process is recycled to fabricate silica nanoparticles, which are applied as dispersing materials for electro-responsive (ER) smart fluid. In specific, metal impurities are removed from silicon sludge by acid washing to obtain the high-purity silicon powder. And then, silica nanoparticles are synthesized by facile hydrothermal method employing the silicon powder as reactant material. To control the size of silica nanoparticles, the reaction time of hydrothermal method is varied as 8, 15, 20, and 30 hours are applied to control the size of silica nanoparticles. Sizes of silica nanoparticles are increased proportionally to the reaction time owing to the increased numbers of hydrolysis and condensation reactions. As-synthesized silica nanoparticles are prepared as electro-responsive smart fluids by dispersing into silicon oil. Silica nanoparticles synthesized by 30 hours of hydrothermal reaction (SiO₂-H30) exhibit the highest shear stress of 21.4 Pa under an applied electric field strength of 3.0kV mm^-1. Such enhancement in ER performance of SiO₂-H30 among various silica nanoparticles are attribute to the reinforcing effect originated from the mixed particle size, which allowing the formation of rigid chain-like structures. Accordingly, this study successfully propose a recycling method of silicon sludge to synthesize silica nanoparticles and their derived ER fluids, which may suggest new possibility to ESG management emphasizing the eco-friendliness.

• Journal of the Daesoon Academy of Sciences
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• v.42
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• pp.201-226
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• 2022

Character education begins with a clear definition of character. There are claims that humanity is reducible to human nature or personality, but when approached from an educational perspective, human nature soon boils down to the question of its ultimate goodness or wickedness. There is a significant difference between the educational systems that emerge from the standpoint that human nature is evil versus the standpoint that human nature is good. With regards to educational outcomes, this can be observed both in terms of human nature and personality. Modern education today sees education as leading the immature to a mature state from the standpoint that human nature is evil. But if human nature is evil, how could we implement an education that would render it good? If character education becomes a system of etiquette education or one of instilling manners whereby simple wrong cases are righted, it would be nothing but a follow-up to the wrong educational cases that had been carried out previously. In that sense, character education is correction; not education. Education should be done in a way that realizes and understands the perfect self rather than unfolding as a process of constantly correcting and reinforcing immature human beings. In that sense, this paper posits that enabling students to understand their own emotions would serve as a correct form of character education. This would be a system of focusing on emotions that reveal the goodness of human nature. Personality can be educated, but education at this time should be a way to bring out a student's already good and even perfected nature. This is more realistic than replacing a 'faulty' character with a good character which supposedly did not exist previously. If personality education morphs into 'emotional self-understanding,' contemplations on 'why not to do' unsavory acts rather than mere negative commands 'don't do that,' and listening to what one's emotions intuit prior to and after given actions, then that would arise to the true standard of a good education.

• Journal of the Korea institute for structural maintenance and inspection
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• v.27 no.6
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• pp.94-101
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• 2023

In this study, the development performance of the head bars, which is SD700, was experimentally evaluated at the RC (reinforced concrete) or SFRC (steel fiber reinforced concrete external beam-column joint. A total of 10 specimens were tested, and variables such as steel fibers, length of settlement, effective depth of the beam, and stirrups of the column were planned. As a result of the experiment, the specimens showed side-face blowout, concrete breakout, and shear failure depending on the experimental variables. In the RC series experiments with development length as a variable, it was confirmed that the development strength increased by 26.5~42.2% as the development length increased by 25-80%, which was not proportional to the development length. JD-based experiments with twice the effective depth of beams showed concrete breakout failure, reducing the maximum strength by 31.5% to 62% compared to the reference experiment. The S-series experiment, in which the spacing of the shear reinforcement around the enlarged head reinforcement was 1/2 times that of the reference experiment, increased the maximum strength by 8.4 to 9.7%. The concrete compressive strength of SFRC was evaluated to be 29.3% smaller than the concrete compressive strength of RC, but the development strength of SFRC specimens increased by 7.3% to 12.2%. Accordingly it was confirmed that the development performance of the head bar was greatly improved by reinforcing the steel fiber. Considering the results of 92% and 99% of the experimental maximum strength of the experiment arranged with 92% and 110% of the KDS-based settlement length, it is judged that the safety rate needs to be considered even more. In addition, it is required to present a design formula that considers the effective depth of the beam compared to the development length.

• Asia-Pacific Journal of Business Venturing and Entrepreneurship
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• v.19 no.1
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• pp.119-133
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• 2024

As a result of significant investments by the government in promoting public technology commercialization and fostering a venture startup ecosystem, there have been quantitative achievements, such as the registration of over 1,600 Innopolis Start-ups since 2006, generating a total revenue of 1.1 trillion won as of 2021. However, these achievements have been overshadowed by critical qualitative challenges, including a continuous decline in average revenue per Innopolis Start-up. This led to a focus on whether managers' technological and market orientations affect business performance. This study aims to provide insights into improving the qualitative growth of Innopolis Start-ups by analyzing the effects of technological and market orientations on business performance, as well as the moderating effects of adjusting marketing and research and development (R&D) costs on this relationship. Through prior research and empirical analysis, this study derives three main findings. First, technological excellence and innovation significantly influence the business performance of Innopolis Start-ups, while technological intensity does not. Second, customer orientation and competitive orientation significantly impact business performance, whereas entry barriers as a single factor do not. Third, adjusting marketing and R&D costs, as controlled variables obtained through general situations, has no direct impact on other variables. However, it interacts with entry barriers, influencing financial business performance, with R&D costs exhibiting a negative buffering effect and marketing costs showing a positive enhancing effect. This study confirms that both technological and market orientations directly influence the business performance of Innopolis Start-ups, thus being crucial factors affecting their growth. Moreover, it establishes that investments in marketing and R&D play significant roles in alleviating initial entry barriers and enhancing financial performance. Consequently, it underscores the importance of reinforcing technological and market orientations tailored to the characteristics of Innopolis Start-ups. Additionally, it proposes five theoretical contributions: strengthening institutional support systems for technology commercialization and innovation, improving qualitative evaluation criteria during the selection process of Innopolis Start-ups, conducting comprehensive analyses of technological and market aspects during startup selection, enhancing support for marketing education and consulting for smooth market entry, and supporting expenditure strategies and milestone setting tailored to the industrial characteristics of individual Innopolis Start-ups.

• The Korean Journal of Nuclear Medicine
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• v.39 no.6
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• pp.421-429
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• 2005

Purpose: It has been postulated that dopamine release in the striatum underlies the reinforcing properties of nicotine. Substantial evidence in the animal studies demonstrates that nicotine interacts with dopaminergic neuron and regulates the activation of the dopaminergic system. The aim of this study was to visualize the dopamine release by smoking in human brain using PET scan with $[^{11}C]raclopride$. Materials and Methods: Five male non-smokers or ex-smokers with an abstinence period longer than 1 year (mean age of $24.4{\pm}1.7$ years) were enrolled in this study $[^{11}C]raclopride$, a dopamine D2 receptor radioligand, was administrated with bolus-plus-constant infusion. Dynamic PET was performed during 120 minutes ($3{\times}20s,\;2{\times}60s,\;2{\times}120s,\;1{\times}180s\;and\;22{\times}300s$). following the 50 minute-scanning, subjects smoked a cigarette containing 1 mg of nicotine while in the scanner. Blood samples for the measurement of plasma nicotine level were collected at 0, 5, 10, 15, 20, 25, 30, 45, 60, and 90 minute after smoking. Regions for striatal structures were drawn on the coronal summed PET images guided with co-registered MRI. Binding potential, calculated as (striatal-cerebellar)/cerebellar activity, was measured under equilibrium condition at baseline and smoking session. Results: The mean decrease in binding potential of $[^{11}C]raclopride$ between the baseline and smoking in caudate head, anterior putamen and ventral striatum was 4.7%, 4.0% and 7.8%, respectively. This indicated the striatal dopamine release by smoking. Of these, the reduction in binding potential in the ventral striatum was significantly correlated with the cumulated plasma level of the nicotine (Spearman's rho=0.9, p=0.04). Conclusion: These data demonstrate that in vivo imaging with $[^{11}C]raclopride$ PET could measure nicotine-induced dopamine release in the human brain, which has a significant positive correlation with the amount or nicotine administered bt smoking.

• 대한공업교육학회지
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• v.38 no.2
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• pp.48-67
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• 2013

This study tried to suggest implications about operation direction of specialized high schools (SHS) by researching awareness of middle school students (MSS), school parents (SP), human resources directors in industrial institutions (HRDII) who will be the main users of SHS education, about entering SHS and career after graduating from SHS. Seniors of middle school, SP and HRDII in Asan, Chungnam were the subject of this survey research. The summary of the result of this study is as follow: First, MSS and SP usually hoped to enter general high schools rather than vocational education schools such as SHS, meister high schools, and MSS considered school records and SP considered aptitude and talent for the factors to choose high school. Second, MSS, SP, and HRDII recognized purposes of SHS as improvement of talent and aptitude, and getting a job. As for positive images of SHS, they recognized it as applying talent and aptitude to life early, getting good jobs easily, fast independence after graduation, and learning excellent technologies, and as for negative images of SHS, they recognized it as social prejudices and discrimination, students with bad school records enter them, disadvantages about promotion and wages, and being unfavorable for entering universities. They also recognized education of SHS as being effective for improvement of basic and executive ability and key competency, development of creative human resources, and improvement of right personality and courteous manners. Third, many MSS and SP showed intention to enter SHS if it is established in Asan. They wished to enter SHS because they would like to apply their aptitude and talent to life early, learn excellent skill, and hope for early employment, on the other hand, they did not wish to enter SHS because it was not suited for their aptitude and talent, awareness about SHS is low, it is unfavorable to enter universities, and there were social prejudices and discrimination. They also similarly hoped for getting jobs and entering universities after graduating from SHS. And the reason they wanted to get a job was usually because they want to be successful by advancing into society early, or because it is still hard to get a job even after graduate from the university, on the other hand, the reason they want to enter university is because is usually in-depth education about major and social discrimination about level of education. The ability to perform duties forms the greatest part of the employment standard that MSS, SP, and HRDII aware. MSS and SP usually hoped for industrial, home economics and housework and commercial majors in SHS, and considered aptitude and talent, the promising future, and being favorable for employment for choosing major. The reason HRDII hire SHS student was to develop student into talent of industrial institution, ability of student, and need for manpower with high school graduation level, and there were also partial answer that they can hire SHS student if they have ability to perform duties. The proposals about operation direction of SHS according to the results above are as follow: SHS should diversify major and curriculum to meet various requirements of student and parents, establish SHS admission system based on career guidance, and improve student's ability to perform duties by establishing work-based learning. The Government should organize work-to-school policy to enable practical career development of students from SHS, and promote relevant policy to reinforcing SHS education rather than quantitative evaluation such as employment rate, and cooperative support from each government departments is required to make manpower with skill related to SHS to get proper evaluation and treatment.

• The Journal of Korean Medicine Ophthalmology and Otolaryngology and Dermatology
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• v.15 no.1
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• pp.198-218
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• 2002

On the basis of Imjeungjinamuian(臨證指南醫案), authors investigated the pathogenesis and treatment of ophthalmotolaryngobgic diseases from the viewpoint of Onbyeong(溫病). 1. The symptoms and diseases investigated according to department were as follows;. 1) Ophthalmology : blepharitis, blepharedema, lacrimal hypersecretion, hyperemia, ophthalmalgla, photopsia, visual disturbance, mydriasis 2) Otology : full-feeling, otorrhea, otalgla, mastoiditis, tinnitus, hearing disturbance, vertigo 3) Rhinology : rhinorrhea, nasal obstruction, sinusitis, epistaxis 4) Laryngology : sore throat, hoarseness 5) The Others : headache, cough, asthma 2. The pathogenesis and treatment of ophthalmotolaryngologic diseases were as follows. 1) When the pathogenesis of hyperemia, otorrhea, otalgia, mastoiditis, hearing disturhance. epistaxis, sore throat, headache and cough are wind-stagnanc(風鬱), wind-warm(風溫), wind-fire(風火), wind-dryness(風燥), dryness-heat(燥熱), the treatment of pungent-cool-evaporating(辛凉解表) with Dajosan(茶調散), Mori Folium(桑葉), Lonicerae Flos(金銀花), Forsythiae Fructus(連翹), Viticis Fructus(蔓荊子), Prunellae Spica(夏枯草), Arctii Fructus(牛蒡子), etc can be applied. 2) When the pathogenesis of hoarseness, cough and asthma are cold(寒), cold with endogenous heat(寒包熱, 外冷內熱), water retention(水邪), fluid retention(伏飮), impairment of YangKi by overexertion(勞傷陽氣), the treatment of pungent-warm-evaporating(辛溫解表) with Mahaenggamseoktang(麻杏甘石湯), Socheongryongtang(小靑龍湯), Jeongryeokdaejosapyetang(정력대조사폐탕), Gyejitang(桂枝湯), Armeniacae Amarum Semen(杏仁), etc can be applied. 3) When the pathogenesis of photopsia, otorrhea, otalgia, rhinorrhea, sinusitis, epistaxis, sore throat, hoarseness, headache and cough are stagnancy-induced heat(鬱熱), wind-dryness(風燥), wind-heat(風熱), summer heat(暑熱), summer wind(暑風), insidious summer heat(伏暑), autumn heat(秋暑), autumn wind(秋風), autumn dryness(秋燥), dryness-heat(燥熱), heat in Ki system(氣分熱), insidious warm(溫伏), brain discharge by fire in Ki system(氣火 腦熱), heat in stomach(胃熱), endogenous fire by deficiency of Yin(陰虛內火), deficiency of Yin in stomach(胃陰虛), the treatment of Ki-cooling(淸氣) with Bangpungtongseongsan(防風通聖散), Ikweonsan(益元散), Gyejibaekhotang(桂枝白虎湯), Geumgwemaekmundongtang(금궤맥문동탕), Gyeongokgo(瓊玉膏), Sojae Semen Praeparatum(두시), Scutellariae Radix(黃芩), Phyllostachys Folium(竹葉), Adenophorae Radix(沙參), Mori Cortex(桑白皮), Fritillariae Cirrhosae Bulbus(貝母), etc can be applied. 4) When the pathogenesis of blepharitis, hyperemia, ophthalmalgia, full-feeling, otorrhea, otalgia, tinnitus, hearing disturbance, sinusitis, hoarseness, headache and cough are fire in liver(肝火), fire in gallbladder(膽火), ministerial fire in Soyang system(少陽相火), wind-stagnancy(風鬱), stagnancy-induced fire(鬱火), brain discharge by phlegm-fire(痰火 腦熱), the treatment of mediation(和解) with Gardeniae Fructus(梔子), Moutan Cortex(牧丹皮), Saigae Tataricae Cornu(羚羊角), Artemisiae Annuae Herba(靑蒿), Cyperi Rhizoma(香附子), Poria(적복령), etc can be applied. 5) When the pathogenesis of blepharedema and cough are dampness in both spleen and lung(脾肺濕) damp-heat(濕熱), damp-phlegm(濕痰), the treatment of dampness-resolving(化濕) with Poria(백복령), Coicis Semen(薏苡仁), Tetrapanacis Medulla(通草), Armeniacae Amarum Semen(杏仁), Talcum(滑石), etc can be applied. 6) When the pathogenesis of vertigo and cough are deficiency of Yong(營虛), heat in Yong, system(營熱), the treatment of Yong-cooling(淸營) with Rehmanniae Radix(生地黃), Liriopis Tuber(麥門冬), Biotae Semen(柏子仁), Lilii Bulbus(百合), Phyllostachys Folium(竹葉), etc can be applied. 7) When the pathogenesis of epistaxis are heat in blood system of heart(心血熱), reversed flow of fire(火上逆), overexertion(努力), the treatment of blood-cooling(凉血) with Rhinoceri Cornu(犀角), Rehmanniae Radix(生地黃), Moutan Cortex(牧丹皮), Salviae Miltiorrhizae Radix(丹參), Scrophulariae Radix(玄蔘), etc can be applied. 8) When the pathogenesis of nasal obstruction is pathogen-stagnancy(邪鬱), the treatment of resuscitation(開竅) with Sosang(少商, LU11) acupuncture can be applied. When the pathogenesis of hoarseness is evil Ki(穢濁), the treatment of resuscitation(開竅) with Arctii Fructus(牛蒡子), Lasiosphaera Seu Calvatia(馬勃), Curcumae Radix(鬱金), etc can be applied. When the pathogenesis of headache is stasis of both Ki and blood(氣血瘀痺), the treatment of resuscitation(開竅) with Cnidii Rhizoma(川芎), Asari Herba Cum Radice(細辛), Scorpio(全蝎), moxibustion(灸), etc can be applied. 9) When the pathogenesis of lacrimal hypersecretion, visual disturbance, mydriasis, tinnitus, hearing disturbance, sinusitis, epistaxis, hoarseness and cough are deficiency of Yin(陰虛), deficiency of kidney(腎虛), deficiency of both liver and kidney(肝腎虛), deficiency of both heart and kidney(心腎虛), brain discharge by deficiency of Yin(陰虛 腦熱), exuberance of Yang in liver(肝陽上亢), overexertion(勞損), the treatment of Yin-replenishing(滋陰) with Yukmijihwanghwan(六味地黃丸), Hojamhwan(虎潛丸), Jeobutang(猪膚湯), Lycii Fructus(枸杞子), Polygoni Multiflori Radix(何首烏), Rehmanniae Radix(生地黃), Schizandrae Fructus(五味子), Liriopis Tuber(麥門冬), Asini Gelatinum(阿膠), etc can be applied. 10) When the pathogenesis of ophthalmalgia, mydriasis, vertigo and headache are deficiency of Yin in liver(肝陰虛), exuberance of Yang in liver(肝陽上亢), endogenous wind(內風), excess in upper and deficiency in lower part(上實下虛), the treatment of Yin-replenishing(滋陰) and endogenous wind-calming(熄風) with Rehmanniae Radix Preparat(熟地黃), Lycii Fructus(枸杞子), Polygoni Multiflori Radix(何首烏), Paeoniae Radix Alba(白芍藥), Ostreae Concha(牡蠣), Saigae Tataricae Cornu(羚羊角), Chrysanthemi Flos(菊花), etc be applied. 11) When the pathogenesis of mydriasis, sinusitis, hoarseness, headache, cough and asthma are exhaustion of vital essence(精氣無收藏), brain discharge(腦髓不固), floating Yang(陽虛浮), exsanguination(失血), deficiency of both Yin and Yang(陰陽不足), overexertion(勞損), deficiency of Yang in kidney(腎陽虛), the treatment of Yang-restoring and exhaustion-arresting(回陽固脫) with Yangyeongtang(養營湯), Cheonjinhwan(天眞丸), Bokmaektang(복맥탕), Geonjungtang(建中湯), Dogihwan(都氣丸), Singihwan(腎氣丸), Jinmutang(眞武湯), Ostreae Concha(牡蠣), Nelumbinis Semen(蓮子肉), etc can be applied. 12) When the pathogenesis of lacrimal hypersecretion, vertigo and headache are deficiency of stomach and endogenous wind(胃虛內風), endogenous wind with phlegm(內風挾痰), liver check of stomach(肝木橫擾), the treatment of concomitant-treating of both liver and stomach(肝胃同治) with Paeoniae Radix Alba(白芍藥), Uncariae Ramulus Et Uncus(釣鉤藤), Gastrodiae Rhizoma(天麻), Astragali Radix(황기), Pinelliae Rhizoma(半夏), etc can be applied. When the pathogenesis of asthma is failure of kidney to promote inspiration(腎不納氣), the treatment of kidney-tonifing and inspiration-promoting(補腎納氣) with Singihwan(腎氣丸), Psoraleae Fructus(補骨脂), Juglandis Semen(胡桃), Aquilariae Resinatum Lignum(沈香), etc can be applied. When the pathogenesis of asthma is deficiency of Ki(氣虛), the treatment of Ki-reinforcing(補氣) with Sagunjatang(四君子湯), Insamgeonjungtang(人參建中湯), etc can be applied.

• Maritime Security
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• v.5 no.1
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• pp.1-53
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• 2022

One manifestation of the contemporary era of renewed great power competition has been the deepening relationship between China and Russia. Their strengthening military ties, notwithstanding their lack of a formal defense alliance, have been especially striking. Since China and Russia deploy two of the world's most powerful navies, their growing maritime cooperation has been one of the most significant international security developments of recent years. The Sino-Russian naval exercises, involving varying platforms and locations, have built on years of high-level personnel exchanges, large Russian weapons sales to China, the Sino-Russia Treaty of Friendship, and other forms of cooperation. Though the joint Sino-Russian naval drills began soon after Beijing and Moscow ended their Cold War confrontation, these exercises have become much more important during the last decade, essentially becoming a core pillar of their expanding defense partnership. China and Russia now conduct more naval exercises in more places and with more types of weapons systems than ever before. In the future, Chinese and Russian maritime drills will likely encompass new locations, capabilities, and partners-including possibly the Arctic, hypersonic delivery systems, and novel African, Asian, and Middle East partners-as well as continue such recent innovations as conducting joint naval patrols and combined arms maritime drills. China and Russia pursue several objectives through their bilateral naval cooperation. The Treaty of Good-Neighborliness and Friendly Cooperation Between the People's Republic of China and the Russian Federation lacks a mutual defense clause, but does provide for consultations about common threats. The naval exercises, which rehearse non-traditional along with traditional missions (e.g., counter-piracy and humanitarian relief as well as with high-end warfighting), provide a means to enhance their response to such mutual challenges through coordinated military activities. Though the exercises may not realize substantial interoperability gains regarding combat capabilities, the drills do highlight to foreign audiences the Sino-Russian capacity to project coordinated naval power globally. This messaging is important given the reliance of China and Russia on the world's oceans for trade and the two countries' maritime territorial disputes with other countries. The exercises can also improve their national military capabilities as well as help them learn more about the tactics, techniques, and procedures of each other. The rising Chinese Navy especially benefits from working with the Russian armed forces, which have more experience conducting maritime missions, particularly in combat operations involving multiple combat arms, than the People's Liberation Army (PLA). On the negative side, these exercises, by enhancing their combat capabilities, may make Chinese and Russian policymakers more willing to employ military force or run escalatory risks in confrontations with other states. All these impacts are amplified in Northeast Asia, where the Chinese and Russian navies conduct most of their joint exercises. Northeast Asia has become an area of intensifying maritime confrontations involving China and Russia against the United States and Japan, with South Korea situated uneasily between them. The growing ties between the Chinese and Russian navies have complicated South Korean-U.S. military planning, diverted resources from concentrating against North Korea, and worsened the regional security environment. Naval planners in the United States, South Korea, and Japan will increasingly need to consider scenarios involving both the Chinese and Russian navies. For example, South Korean and U.S. policymakers need to prepare for situations in which coordinated Chinese and Russian military aggression overtaxes the Pentagon, obligating the South Korean Navy to rapidly backfill for any U.S.-allied security gaps that arise on the Korean Peninsula. Potentially reinforcing Chinese and Russian naval support to North Korea in a maritime confrontation with South Korea and its allies would present another serious challenge. Building on the commitment of Japan and South Korea to strengthen security ties, future exercises involving Japan, South Korea, and the United States should expand to consider these potential contingencies.

• Journal of Global Scholars of Marketing Science
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• v.17 no.4
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• pp.247-269
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• 2007

In recent years, one of the major reasons for the fierce competition amongst firms is that they strive to increase their own market shares and customer acquisition rate in the same market with similar and apparently undifferentiated products in terms of quality and perceived benefit. Because of this change in recent marketing environment, the differentiated after-sales service and diversified promotion strategies have become more important to gain competitive advantage. Price promotion is the favorite strategy that most retailers use to achieve short-term sales increase, induce consumer's brand switch, in troduce new product into market, and so forth. However, if marketers apply or copy an identical price promotion strategy without considering the characteristic differences in product and consumer preference, it will cause serious problems because discounted price itself could make people skeptical about product quality, and the changes of perceived value might appear differently depending on other factors such as consumer involvement or brand attitude. Previous studies showed that price promotion would certainly increase sales, and the discounted price compared to regular price would enhance the consumer's perceived values. On the other hand, discounted price itself could make people depreciate or skeptical about product quality, and reduce the consumers' positivity bias because consumers might be unsure whether the current price promotion is the retailer's best price offer. Moreover, we cannot say that discounted price absolutely enhances the consumer's perceived values regardless of product category and purchase situations. That is, the factors that affect consumers' value perceptions and buying behavior are so diverse in reality that the results of studies on the same dependent variable come out differently depending on what variable was used or how experiment conditions were designed. Majority of previous researches on the effect of price-comparison advertising have used consumers' buying behavior as dependent variable. In order to figure out consumers' buying behavior theoretically, analysis of value perceptions which influence buying intentions is needed. In addition, they did not combined the independent variables such as brand loyalty and price discount rate together. For this reason, this paper tried to examine the moderating effect of brand loyalty on relationship between the different levels of discounting rate and buyers' value perception. And we provided with theoretical and managerial implications that marketers need to consider such variables as product attributes, brand loyalty, and consumer involvement at the same time, and then establish a differentiated pricing strategy case by case in order to enhance consumer's perceived values properl. Three research concepts were used in our study and each concept based on past researches was defined. The perceived acquisition value in this study was defined as the perceived net gains associated with the products or services acquired. That is, the perceived acquisition value of the product will be positively influenced by the benefits buyers believe they are getting by acquiring and using the product, and negatively influenced by the money given up to acquire the product. And the perceived transaction value was defined as the perception of psychological satisfaction or pleasure obtained from taking advantage of the financial terms of the price deal. Lastly, the brand loyalty was defined as favorable attitude towards a purchased product. Thus, a consumer loyal to a brand has an emotional attachment to the brand or firm. Repeat purchasers continue to buy the same brand even though they do not have an emotional attachment to it. We assumed that if the degree of brand loyalty is high, the perceived acquisition value and the perceived transaction value will increase when higher discount rate is provided. But we found that there are no significant differences in values between two different discount rates as a result of empirical analysis. It means that price reduction did not affect consumer's brand choice significantly because the perceived sacrifice decreased only a little, and customers are satisfied with product's benefits when brand loyalty is high. From the result, we confirmed that consumers with high degree of brand loyalty to a specific product are less sensitive to price change. Thus, using price promotion strategy to merely expect sale increase is not recommendable. Instead of discounting price, marketers need to strengthen consumers' brand loyalty and maintain the skimming strategy. On the contrary, when the degree of brand loyalty is low, the perceived acquisition value and the perceived transaction value decreased significantly when higher discount rate is provided. Generally brands that are considered inferior might be able to draw attention away from the quality of the product by making consumers focus more on the sacrifice component of price. But considering the fact that consumers with low degree of brand loyalty are known to be unsatisfied with product's benefits and have relatively negative brand attitude, bigger price reduction offered in experiment condition of this paper made consumers depreciate product's quality and benefit more and more, and consumer's psychological perceived sacrifice increased while perceived values decreased accordingly. We infer that, in the case of inferior brand, a drastic price-cut or frequent price promotion may increase consumers' uncertainty about overall components of product. Therefore, it appears that reinforcing the augmented product such as after-sale service, delivery and giving credit which is one of the levels consisting of product would be more effective in reality. This will be better rather than competing with product that holds high brand loyalty by reducing sale price. Although this study tried to examine the moderating effect of brand loyalty on relationship between the different levels of discounting rate and buyers' value perception, there are several limitations. This study was conducted in controlled conditions where the high involvement product and two different levels of discount rate were applied. Given the presence of low involvement product, when both pieces of information are available, it is likely that the results we have reported here may have been different. Thus, this research results explain only the specific situation. Second, the sample selected in this study was university students in their twenties, so we cannot say that the results are firmly effective to all generations. Future research that manipulates the level of discount along with the consumer involvement might lead to a more robust understanding of the effects various discount rate. And, we used a cellular phone as a product stimulus, so it would be very interesting to analyze the result when the product stimulus is an intangible product such as service. It could be also valuable to analyze whether the change of perceived value affects consumers' final buying behavior positively or negatively.