• Journal of Korea Entertainment Industry Association
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• v.15 no.8
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• pp.19-31
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• 2021

This study tried to identify the characteristics of college students' entrepreneurial intentions in the entertainment industry, focusing on existing literature studies. Based on this, it was intended to suggest realistic educational alternatives for university student start-ups and implications for start-up management to university start-up officials and those in charge of national start-up support policy. Therefore, the implications of this study are as follows. First, technology(item) for idea creation education, which is an essential element in the entertainment industry, how to connect ideas and products, technology methods that can increase content value, and user characteristics education within the entertainment industry will need to be continued. In addition, along with the idea education, it is necessary to increase the understanding of start-up business management such as financing, human resource management, marketing, and operation management, and furthermore, confidence education should be provided so that the possibility of success in an entertainment start-up and a sense of adventure in a new job can be developed. Second, the space and equipment necessary for start-up (club room, student start-up room, entertainment-related equipment, etc.) should be provided centering on the opinion survey of students who are interested in starting a business, and various regulations of universities and government for student start-up should be relaxed. will have to In addition, education for the formation of entrepreneurial knowledge inside and outside of the school, special lectures and consultations by experts, and on-the-spot education, etc., should be made to create more practical entrepreneurial knowledge. something to do. Third, for students wishing to start a business in the entertainment industry, it is necessary to inform their families about the field situation of the entertainment industry accurately so that their children can develop a positive perception rather than a negative perception when choosing a business field. In addition, by promoting various successful cases of college students to their families after starting a business, families should be encouraged so that their children can develop a challenging spirit about starting a business. Fourth, it should be possible to form continuous clubs or gatherings with friends who wish to start a business in the entertainment industry, and furthermore, an opportunity to listen to the opinions of friends who actually started a business through these meetings should be provided. In addition, the meeting and the formation of friends should create a place for discussion about writing a business plan, how to succeed in starting a business, and management of startups, and psychological stimulation activities should be conducted so that each other's will to start a business arises. Fifth, various knowledge related to start-up (methods for securing funds, management of start-up organizations, grasping information about the market in which they want to start a business, etc.) should be cultivated, and how to write a business plan for the various entertainment industry fields they want to start up. You will also need to train them to be practical. Also, based on this knowledge formation, students themselves should be able to respond to risks and changes that may occur in entrepreneurship. Lastly, it is necessary to increase the understanding of business start-up management, and various psychological stimulation activities are needed to make the confidence and fear of starting a business disappear.

• Journal of Nutrition and Health
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• v.45 no.6
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• pp.562-576
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• 2012

Han-sik is a term in Korean that may indicate any Korean dish or food. At present, there is no general consensus on the definition of Han-sik among scholars or professionals in related fields. The aim of this study was to investigate perceptions of Han-sik by professionals in the fields of food, nutrition, and culinary arts using 512 dishes and foods commonly consumed by Koreans using the 4th Korean National Health and Nutrition Survey. A total of 117 professionals out of 185 initially contacted professionals participated in this online survey. We calculated the rate of respondents with a positive answer, that is "It is Han-sik', on each dish and food from the 512 items in 28 dish groups. Items were categorized into five groups according to their Han-sik perception rate: over 90%, 75-89%, 50-74%, 25-49%, and below 25%. Most items in the three dish groups 'Seasoned vegetables, cooked (Namul Suk-chae)', 'Kimchis', and 'Salt-fermented foods (Jeotgal)' showed high perception rates of Han-sik, with a higher than 90% positive response. Items in 'Soups', 'Stews', and 'Steamed foods' dish groups also showed high perception rates of Han-sik. However, no item showed a greater than 90% Han-sik perception rate in 'Fried foods (Twigim)', 'Meat, poultry and fishes', 'Legumes, nuts, and seeds', 'Milk and milk products', 'Sugars and confectioneries', and 'Soup'. Most items in the 'Milk and milk products', 'Sugars and confectioneries', and 'Soup' groups belonged to the lowest perception rate of below 25%. There was a significant difference in the proportion of items perceived as Han-sik by the length of living abroad to (p < 0.05). In summary, the perception rate of Han-sik seemed to be affected by the cooking method, ingredients, and length of time living abroad by the professionals. Further studies targeting subjects with different characteristics and socioeconomic status are warranted to define the concept of Han-sik.

• Journal of Intelligence and Information Systems
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• v.21 no.2
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• pp.93-112
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• 2015

Depending on the change in consumer's consumption pattern, existing retail shop has evolved in hypermarket or convenience store offering grocery and daily products mostly. Therefore, it is important to maintain the inventory levels and proper product configuration for effectively utilize the limited space in the retail store and increasing sales. Accordingly, this study proposed proper product configuration and inventory level strategy based on RFM(Recency, Frequency, Monetary) model and SOM(self-organizing map) for manage the retail shop effectively. RFM model is analytic model to analyze customer behaviors based on the past customer's buying activities. And it can differentiates important customers from large data by three variables. R represents recency, which refers to the last purchase of commodities. The latest consuming customer has bigger R. F represents frequency, which refers to the number of transactions in a particular period and M represents monetary, which refers to consumption money amount in a particular period. Thus, RFM method has been known to be a very effective model for customer segmentation. In this study, using a normalized value of the RFM variables, SOM cluster analysis was performed. SOM is regarded as one of the most distinguished artificial neural network models in the unsupervised learning tool space. It is a popular tool for clustering and visualization of high dimensional data in such a way that similar items are grouped spatially close to one another. In particular, it has been successfully applied in various technical fields for finding patterns. In our research, the procedure tries to find sales patterns by analyzing product sales records with Recency, Frequency and Monetary values. And to suggest a business strategy, we conduct the decision tree based on SOM results. To validate the proposed procedure in this study, we adopted the M-mart data collected between 2014.01.01~2014.12.31. Each product get the value of R, F, M, and they are clustered by 9 using SOM. And we also performed three tests using the weekday data, weekend data, whole data in order to analyze the sales pattern change. In order to propose the strategy of each cluster, we examine the criteria of product clustering. The clusters through the SOM can be explained by the characteristics of these clusters of decision trees. As a result, we can suggest the inventory management strategy of each 9 clusters through the suggested procedures of the study. The highest of all three value(R, F, M) cluster's products need to have high level of the inventory as well as to be disposed in a place where it can be increasing customer's path. In contrast, the lowest of all three value(R, F, M) cluster's products need to have low level of inventory as well as to be disposed in a place where visibility is low. The highest R value cluster's products is usually new releases products, and need to be placed on the front of the store. And, manager should decrease inventory levels gradually in the highest F value cluster's products purchased in the past. Because, we assume that cluster has lower R value and the M value than the average value of good. And it can be deduced that product are sold poorly in recent days and total sales also will be lower than the frequency. The procedure presented in this study is expected to contribute to raising the profitability of the retail store. The paper is organized as follows. The second chapter briefly reviews the literature related to this study. The third chapter suggests procedures for research proposals, and the fourth chapter applied suggested procedure using the actual product sales data. Finally, the fifth chapter described the conclusion of the study and further research.

• Journal of Korean Academy of Nursing
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• v.12 no.2
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• pp.1-26
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• 1982

The main purpose of this study was to test the effect of the structured information on the sleep amount of the patients undergoing open heart surgery. This study has specifically addressed to the Following two basic research questions: (1) Would the structed in formation influence in the reduction of sleep disturbance related to anxiety and Physical stress before and after the operation? and (2) that would be the effects of the structured information on the level of preoperative state anxiety, the hormonal change, and the degree of behavioral change in the patients undergoing an open heart surgery? A Quasi-experimental research was designed to answer these questions with one experimental group and one control group. Subjects in both groups were matched as closely as possible to avoid the effect of the differences inherent to the group characteristics, Baseline data were also. collected on both groups for 7 days prior to the experiment and found that subjects in both groups had comparable sleep patterns, trait anxiety, hormonal levels and behavioral level. A structured information as an experimental input was given to the subjects in the experimental group only. Data were collected and compared between the experimental group and the control group on the sleep amount of the consecutive pre and post operative days, on preoperative state anxiety level, and on hormonal and behavioral changes. To test the effectiveness of the structured information, two main hypotheses and three sub-hypotheses were formulated as follows; Main hypothesis 1: Experimental group which received structured information will have more sleep amount than control group without structured information in the night before the open heart surgery. Main hypothesis 2: Experimental group with structured information will have more sleep, amount than control group without structured information during the week following the open heart surgery Sub-hypothesis 1: Experimental group with structured information will be lower in the level of State anxiety than control group without structured information in the night before the open heart surgery. Sub-hypothesis 2 : Experimental group with structured information will have lower hormonal level than control group without stuctured information on the 5th day after the open heart surgery Sub-hypothesis 3: Experimental group with structured information will be lower in the behavioral change level than control group without structured information during the week after the open heart surgery. The research was conducted in a national university hospital in Seoul, Korea. The 53 Subjects who participated in the study were systematically divided into experimental group and control group which was decided by random sampling method. Among 53 subjects, 26 were placed in the experimental group and 27 in the control group. Instruments; (1) Structed information: Structured information as an independent variable was constructed by the researcher on the basis of Roy's adaptation model consisting of physiologic needs, self-concept, role function and interdependence needs as related to the sleep and of operational procedures. (2) Sleep amount measure: Sleep amount as main dependent variable was measured by trained nurses through observation on the basis of the established criteria, such as closed or open eyes, regular or irregular respiration, body movement, posture, responses to the light and question, facial expressions and self report after sleep. (3) State anxiety measure: State Anxiety as a sub-dependent variable was measured by Spi-elberger's STAI Anxiety scale, (4) Hormornal change measure: Hormone as a sub-dependent variable was measured by the cortisol level in plasma. (5) Behavior change measure: Behavior as a sub-dependent variable was measured by the Behavior and Mood Rating Scale by Wyatt. The data were collected over a period of four months, from June to October 1981, after the pretest period of two months. For the analysis of the data and test for the hypotheses, the t-test with mean differences and analysis of covariance was used. The result of the test for instruments show as follows: (1) STAI measurement for trait and state anxiety as analyzed by Cronbachs alpha coefficient analysis for item analysis and reliability showed the reliability level at r= .90 r= .91 respectively. (2) Behavior and Mood Rating Scale measurement was analyzed by means of Principal Component Analysis technique. Seven factors retained were anger, anxiety, hyperactivity, depression, bizarre behavior, suspicious behavior and emotional withdrawal. Cumulative percentage of each factor was 71.3%. The result of the test for hypotheses show as follows; (1) Main hypothesis, was not supported. The experimental group has 282 minutes of sleep as compared to the 255 minutes of sleep by the control group. Thus the sleep amount was higher in experimental group than in control group, however, the difference was not statistically significant at .05 level. (2) Main hypothesis 2 was not supported. The mean sleep amount of the experimental group and control group were 297 minutes and 278 minutes respectively Therefore, the experimental group had more sleep amount as compared to the control group, however, the difference was not statistically significant at .05 level. Thus, the main hypothesis 2 was not supported. (3) Sub-hypothesis 1 was not supported. The mean state anxiety of the experimental group and control group were 42.3, 43.9 in scores. Thus, the experimental group had slightly lower state anxiety level than control group, howe-ver, the difference was not statistically significant at .05 level. (4) Sub-hypothesis 2 was not supported. . The mean hormonal level of the experimental group and control group were 338 ㎍ and 440 ㎍ respectively. Thus, the experimental group showed decreased hormonal level than the control group, however, the difference was not statistically significant at .05 level. (5) Sub-hypothesis 3 was supported. The mean behavioral level of the experimental group and control group were 29.60 and 32.00 respectively in score. Thus, the experimental group showed lower behavioral change level than the control group. The difference was statistically significant at .05 level. In summary, the structured information did not influence the sleep amount, state anxiety or hormonal level of the subjects undergoing an open heart surgery at a statistically significant level, however, it showed a definite trends in their relationships, not least to mention its significant effect shown on behavioral change level. It can further be speculated that a great degree of individual differences in the variables such as sleep amount, state anxiety and fluctuation in hormonal level may partly be responsible for the statistical insensitivity to the experimentation.

• Proceedings of the Korean Institute of Intelligent Systems Conference
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• 1993.06a
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• pp.1051-1054
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• 1993

The International Atomic Energy Agency's Statute in Article III.A.5 allows it“to establish and administer safeguards designed to ensure that special fissionable and other materials, services, equipment, facilities and information made available by the Agency or at its request or under its supervision or control are not used in such a way as to further any military purpose; and to apply safeguards, at the request of the parties, to any bilateral or multilateral arrangement, or at the request of a State, to any of that State's activities in the field of atomic energy”. Safeguards are essentially a technical means of verifying the fulfilment of political obligations undertaken by States and given a legal force in international agreements relating to the peaceful uses of nuclear energy. The main political objectives are: to assure the international community that States are complying with their non-proliferation and other peaceful undertakings; and to deter (a) the diversion of afeguarded nuclear materials to the production of nuclear explosives or for military purposes and (b) the misuse of safeguarded facilities with the aim of producing unsafeguarded nuclear material. It is clear that no international safeguards system can physically prevent diversion. The IAEA safeguards system is basically a verification measure designed to provide assurance in those cases in which diversion has not occurred. Verification is accomplished by two basic means: material accountancy and containment and surveillance measures. Nuclear material accountancy is the fundamental IAEA safeguards mechanism, while containment and surveillance serve as important complementary measures. Material accountancy refers to a collection of measurements and other determinations which enable the State and the Agency to maintain a current picture of the location and movement of nuclear material into and out of material balance areas, i. e. areas where all material entering or leaving is measurab e. A containment measure is one that is designed by taking advantage of structural characteristics, such as containers, tanks or pipes, etc. To establish the physical integrity of an area or item by preventing the undetected movement of nuclear material or equipment. Such measures involve the application of tamper-indicating or surveillance devices. Surveillance refers to both human and instrumental observation aimed at indicating the movement of nuclear material. The verification process consists of three over-lapping elements: (a) Provision by the State of information such as - design information describing nuclear installations; - accounting reports listing nuclear material inventories, receipts and shipments; - documents amplifying and clarifying reports, as applicable; - notification of international transfers of nuclear material. (b) Collection by the IAEA of information through inspection activities such as - verification of design information - examination of records and repo ts - measurement of nuclear material - examination of containment and surveillance measures - follow-up activities in case of unusual findings. (c) Evaluation of the information provided by the State and of that collected by inspectors to determine the completeness, accuracy and validity of the information provided by the State and to resolve any anomalies and discrepancies. To design an effective verification system, one must identify possible ways and means by which nuclear material could be diverted from peaceful uses, including means to conceal such diversions. These theoretical ways and means, which have become known as diversion strategies, are used as one of the basic inputs for the development of safeguards procedures, equipment and instrumentation. For analysis of implementation strategy purposes, it is assumed that non-compliance cannot be excluded a priori and that consequently there is a low but non-zero probability that a diversion could be attempted in all safeguards ituations. An important element of diversion strategies is the identification of various possible diversion paths; the amount, type and location of nuclear material involved, the physical route and conversion of the material that may take place, rate of removal and concealment methods, as appropriate. With regard to the physical route and conversion of nuclear material the following main categories may be considered: - unreported removal of nuclear material from an installation or during transit - unreported introduction of nuclear material into an installation - unreported transfer of nuclear material from one material balance area to another - unreported production of nuclear material, e. g. enrichment of uranium or production of plutonium - undeclared uses of the material within the installation. With respect to the amount of nuclear material that might be diverted in a given time (the diversion rate), the continuum between the following two limiting cases is cons dered: - one significant quantity or more in a short time, often known as abrupt diversion; and - one significant quantity or more per year, for example, by accumulation of smaller amounts each time to add up to a significant quantity over a period of one year, often called protracted diversion. Concealment methods may include: - restriction of access of inspectors - falsification of records, reports and other material balance areas - replacement of nuclear material, e. g. use of dummy objects - falsification of measurements or of their evaluation - interference with IAEA installed equipment.As a result of diversion and its concealment or other actions, anomalies will occur. All reasonable diversion routes, scenarios/strategies and concealment methods have to be taken into account in designing safeguards implementation strategies so as to provide sufficient opportunities for the IAEA to observe such anomalies. The safeguards approach for each facility will make a different use of these procedures, equipment and instrumentation according to the various diversion strategies which could be applicable to that facility and according to the detection and inspection goals which are applied. Postulated pathways sets of scenarios comprise those elements of diversion strategies which might be carried out at a facility or across a State's fuel cycle with declared or undeclared activities. All such factors, however, contain a degree of fuzziness that need a human judgment to make the ultimate conclusion that all material is being used for peaceful purposes. Safeguards has been traditionally based on verification of declared material and facilities using material accountancy as a fundamental measure. The strength of material accountancy is based on the fact that it allows to detect any diversion independent of the diversion route taken. Material accountancy detects a diversion after it actually happened and thus is powerless to physically prevent it and can only deter by the risk of early detection any contemplation by State authorities to carry out a diversion. Recently the IAEA has been faced with new challenges. To deal with these, various measures are being reconsidered to strengthen the safeguards system such as enhanced assessment of the completeness of the State's initial declaration of nuclear material and installations under its jurisdiction enhanced monitoring and analysis of open information and analysis of open information that may indicate inconsistencies with the State's safeguards obligations. Precise information vital for such enhanced assessments and analyses is normally not available or, if available, difficult and expensive collection of information would be necessary. Above all, realistic appraisal of truth needs sound human judgment.

• Journal of the Korean Institute of Traditional Landscape Architecture
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• v.37 no.2
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• pp.74-88
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• 2019

This study developed the Assessment Indicator evaluating eco-cultural value of temple forest in Korea and applied the developed Assessment Indicator to Songgwang-sa(also known as Seungbo-sachal), one of the Three Jewels Temple. Literature reviews and the draft of Assessment Indicator were drawn from brainstorming(including 2 forest therapy experts, 1 Buddhist monk expert, 1 landscape architect, 1 forest expert, and 6 researchers). After that, the Assessment Indicator drawn from the group of experts(the 1st in-depth interview: 32 people, the 2nd in-depth interview: 30 people) was verified and revised. The final Assessment Indicator, which was composed of 4 parts and 20 items, was developed. The results are as follows. The eco-cultural Assessment Indicator of temple forest was composed of 4 parts, which were Historical Cultural value, Ecological value, Recreatory Visitational value, and Educational Useful value, and 20 items and each item had 5 points. Historical Cultural value had 5 items and its total points were 25. Ecological value had 5 items and had total 25 points. Recreatory Visitational value had 6 items, 30 total points. Educational Useful value had 4 items, 20 total points. The total points of the eco-cultural Assessment Indicator were 100 points. As a result of applying the developed Assessment Indicator to the target place, Songgwang-sa in Mt. Jogye, Historical Cultural value of temple forest was calculated as 23 points(out of 25). Ecological value was 21 point(out of 25), Recreatory Visitational value, 22 points(out of 30), and Educational Useful value, 16 points(out of 20). The total points were 82(out of 100). Consequently, this study is meaningful based on the following 5 aspects. Firstly, this study challenged the development of the eco-cultural Assessment Indicator of temple forest for the first time. It is significant because the developed Assessment Indicator can be a useful resource for the eco-cultural value of temple forest. Secondly, the result showed that Educational Useful value and Recreatory Visitational value of forest temple were very low. Therefore, the supports for leisure, tour, education, and use of temple forest are needed from Korea Forest Service, Ministry of Environment, Cultural Heritage Administration and other government agencies since they acknowledge the temple forest as the best customers in Korea. Thirdly, the excellence or for eco-cultural value of temple forest needs to be extended in a national level. It is possible to make a Korean National Bran(e.g., the Therapy at the Temple) by blending temple stay, which is only in temples, and therapy, and is also possible to be a global tour industry. Fourthly, this study suggested legal definition about the necessary of legal definition for temple forest because there is no legal definition on temple forest in the current situation. When the definition of temple forest is legally arranaged, it would be a foundation for conserving eco-cultural value of temple forest, for organizing exclusively responsible departments in governmental institutions, and further for registering temple forest as World Natural Heritage. Lastly, the developed eco-cultural Assessment Indicators of temple forest from this study would be applied to "the 7 Sansa, Buddhist Mountain Monasteries in Korea(Sansa)" and the characteristics of each 7 temple are drawn. This study would be a basic data for temples' management and use with the eco-cultural Assessment Indicator of temple forest.

• Korean Journal of Heritage: History & Science
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• v.52 no.3
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• pp.172-187
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• 2019

Knowledge of intangible cultural heritage is usually disseminated through word-of-mouth and actions rather than written records. Thus, people assemble to teach others about it and form communities. Accordingly, to understand and spread information about intangible cultural heritage properly, it is necessary to understand not only their attributes but also a community's relational characteristics. Community members include specialized transmitters who work under the auspices of institutions, and general transmitters who enjoy intangible cultural heritage in their daily lives. They converse about intangible cultural heritage in close relationships. However, to date, research has focused only on professionals. Thus, this study focused on the roles of general transmitters of intangible cultural heritage information by investigating intangible cultural heritage communities centering around Jeongseon Arirang; a social network analysis was performed. Regarding the research objectives presented in the introduction, the main findings of the study are summarized as follows. First, there were 197 links between 74 members of the Jeongseon Arirang Transmission Community. One individual had connections with 2.7 persons on average, and all were connected through two steps in the community. However, the density and the clustering coefficient were low, 0.036 and 0.32, respectively; therefore, the cohesiveness of this community was low, and the relationships between the members were not strong. Second, 'Young-ran Yu', 'Nam-gi Kim' and 'Gil-ja Kim' were found to be the prominent figures of the Jeongseon Arirang Transmission Community, and the central structure of the network was concentrated around these three individuals. Being located in the central structure of the network indicates that a person is popular and ranked high. Also, it means that a person has an advantage in terms of the speed and quantity of the acquisition of information and resources, and is in a relatively superior position in terms of bargaining power. Third, to understand the replaceability of the roles of Young-ran Yu, Nam-gi Kim, and Gil-ja Kim, who were found to be the major figures through an analysis of the central structure, structural equivalence was profiled. The results of the analysis showed that the positions and roles of Young-ran Yu, Nam-gi Kim, and Gil-ja Kim were unrivaled and irreplaceable in the Jeongseon Arirang Transmission Community. However, considering that these three members were in their 60s and 70s, it seemed that it would be necessary to prepare measures for the smooth maintenance and operation of the community. Fourth, to examine the subgroup hidden in the network of the Jeongseon Arirang Transmission Community, an analysis of communities was conducted. A community refers to a subgroup clearly differentiated based on modularity. The results of the analysis identified the existence of four communities. Furthermore, the results of an analysis of the central structure showed that the communities were formed and centered around Young-ran Yu, Hyung-jo Kim, Nam-gi Kim, and Gil-ja Kim. Most of the transmission TAs recommended by those members, students who completed a course, transmission scholarship holders, and the general members taught in the transmission classes of the Jeongseon Arirang Preservation Society were included as members of the communities. Through these findings, it was discovered that it is possible to maintain the transmission genealogy, making an exchange with the general members by employing the present method for the transmission of Jeongseon Arirang, the joint transmission method. It is worth paying attention to the joint transmission method as it overcomes the demerits of the existing closed one-on-one apprentice method and provides members with an opportunity to learn their masters' various singing styles. This study is significant for the following reasons: First, by collecting and examining data using a social network analysis method, this study analyzed phenomena that had been difficult to investigate using existing statistical analyses. Second, by adopting a different approach to the previous method in which the genealogy was understood, looking at oral data, this study analyzed the structures of the transmitters' relationships with objective and quantitative data. Third, this study visualized and presented the abstract structures of the relationships among the transmitters of intangible cultural heritage information on a 2D spring map. The results of this study can be utilized as a baseline for the development of community-centered policies for the protection of intangible cultural heritage specified in the UNESCO Convention for the Safeguarding of Intangible Cultural Heritage. To achieve this, it would be necessary to supplement this study through case studies and follow-up studies on more aspects in the future.

• MISULJARYO - National Museum of Korea Art Journal
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• v.98
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• pp.226-241
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• 2020

Located on the right side of the third floor of the State Hermitage Museum in St. Petersburg, the "Art of Central Asia" exhibition boasts the world's finest collection of artworks and artifacts from the Silk Road. Every item in the collection has been classified by region, and many of them were collected in the early twentieth century through archaeological surveys led by Russia's Pyotr Kozlov, Mikhail Berezovsky, and Sergey Oldenburg. Some of these artifacts have been presented around the world through special exhibitions held in Germany, France, the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, Korea, Japan, and elsewhere. The fruits of Russia's Silk Road expeditions were also on full display in the 2008 exhibition The Caves of One Thousand Buddhas - Russian Expeditions on the Silk Route on the Occasion of 190 Years of the Asiatic Museum, held at the Hermitage Museum. Published in 2018 by the Shanghai Chinese Classics Publishing House in collaboration with the Hermitage Museum, Kuche Art Relics Collected in Russia introduces the Hermitage's collection of artifacts from the Kuche (or Kucha) region. While the book focuses exclusively on artifacts excavated from the Kuche area, it also includes valuable on-site photos and sketches from the Russian expeditions, thus helping to enhance readers' overall understanding of the characteristics of Kuche art within the Buddhist art of Central Asia. The book was compiled by Dr. Kira Samosyuk, senior curator of the Oriental Department of the Hermitage Museum, who also wrote the main article and the artifact descriptions. Dr. Samosyuk is an internationally renowned scholar of Central Asian Buddhist art, with a particular expertise in the art of Khara-Khoto and Xi-yu. In her article "The Art of the Kuche Buddhist Temples," Dr. Samosyuk provides an overview of Russia's Silk Road expeditions, before introducing the historical development of Kuche in the Buddhist era and the aspects of Buddhism transmitted to Kuche. She describes the murals and clay sculptures in the Buddhist grottoes, giving important details on their themes and issues with estimating their dates, and also explains how the temples operated as places of worship. In conclusion, Dr. Samosyuk argues that the Kuche region, while continuously engaging with various peoples in China and the nomadic world, developed its own independent Buddhist culture incorporating elements of Gandara, Hellenistic, Persian, and Chinese art and culture. Finally, she states that the culture of the Kuche region had a profound influence not only on the Tarim Basin, but also on the Buddhist grottoes of Dunhuang and the central region of China. A considerable portion of Dr. Samosyuk's article addresses efforts to estimate the date of the grottoes in the Kuche region. After citing various scholars' views on the dates of the murals, she argues that the Kizil grottoes likely began prior to the fifth century, which is at least 100 years earlier than most current estimates. This conclusion is reached by comparing the iconography of the armor depicted in the murals with related materials excavated from the surrounding area (such as items of Sogdian art). However, efforts to date the Buddhist grottoes of Kuche must take many factors into consideration, such as the geological characteristics of the caves, the themes and styles of the Buddhist paintings, the types of pigments used, and the clothing, hairstyles, and ornamentation of the depicted figures. Moreover, such interdisciplinary data must be studied within the context of Kuche's relations with nearby cultures. Scientific methods such as radiocarbon dating could also be applied for supplementary materials. The preface of Kuche Art Relics Collected in Russia reveals that the catalog is the first volume covering the Hermitage Museum's collection of Kuche art, and that the next volume in the series will cover a large collection of mural fragments that were taken from Berlin during World War II. For many years, the whereabouts of these mural fragments were unknown to both the public and academia, but after restoration, the fragments were recently re-introduced to the public as part of the museum's permanent exhibition. We look forward to the next publication that focuses on these mural fragments, and also to future catalogs introducing the artifacts of Turpan and Khotan. Currently, fragments of the murals from the Kuche grottoes are scattered among various countries, including Russia, Germany, and Korea. With the publication of this catalog, it seems like an opportune time to publish a comprehensive catalog on the murals of the Kuche region, which represent a compelling mixture of East-West culture that reflects the overall characteristics of the region. A catalog that includes both the remaining murals of the Kizil grottoes and the fragments from different parts of the world could greatly enhance our understanding of the murals' original state. Such a book would hopefully include a more detailed and interdisciplinary discussion of the artifacts and murals, including scientific analyses of the pigments and other materials from the perspective of conservation science. With the ongoing rapid development in western China, the grotto murals are facing a serious crisis related to climate change and overcrowding in the oasis city of Xinjiang. To overcome this challenge, the cultural communities of China and other countries that possess advanced technology for conservation and restoration must begin working together to protect and restore the murals of the Silk Road grottoes. Moreover, centers for conservation science should be established to foster human resources and collect information. Compiling the data of Russian expeditions related to the grottoes of Kuche (among the results of Western archaeological surveys of the Silk Road in the early twentieth century), Kuche Art Relics Collected in Russia represents an important contribution to research on Kuche's Buddhist art and the Silk Road, which will only be enhanced by a future volume introducing the mural fragments from Germany. As the new authoritative source for academic research on the artworks and artifacts of the Kuche region, the book also lays the groundwork for new directions for future studies on the Silk Road. Finally, the book is also quite significant for employing a new editing system that improves its academic clarity and convenience. In conclusion, Dr. Kira Samosyuk, who planned the publication, deserves tremendous praise for taking the research of Silk Road art to new heights.