Woosuk University

Banquet services are a strategically important yet underexplored component of full-service hotel operations, characterized by event-based delivery and complex coordination. Existing service quality frameworks inadequately capture the operational, spatial, and experiential features of banquet contexts. This study developed and validated a banquet-specific service quality measurement scale for full-service hotels. Using a modified DINESERV instrument, data were collected from 216 U.S. respondents who had attended a hotel banquet within the previous 36 months. Exploratory factor analysis identified four dimensions, Facilities & Operations, Service Performance, Guest Care, and Venue Quality, with acceptable-to-strong reliability. The findings conceptualized banquet services as integrated, episodic service systems rather than transactional dining encounters. Managerially, the scale provides a practical tool for prioritizing hygiene, operational reliability, and venue functionality while supporting sustainable service improvement. This study offers an empirically grounded framework that advances banquet service quality research and practice.

Abstract Objectives This study aims to systematically analyze the effects of acupuncture as an adjunctive therapy for minimizing side effects following miscarriage, particularly focusing on pain relief and physical and emotional stability. By reviewing randomized controlled trials, the study seeks to identify effective acupuncture points and standardize their use in post-abortion care. Methods This study systematically reviewed and analyzed randomized controlled trials on the effectiveness of electroacupuncture in managing pain after miscarriage. The review followed PRISMA guidelines, included eight databases, and focused on comparing electroacupuncture to no intervention, analgesics, or combined treatments, with outcomes centered on pain and uterine bleeding. Results This study reviewed 260 articles on electroacupuncture for post-abortion pain, ultimately including six studies in the qualitative analysis and three in the meta-analysis. The results suggest that electroacupuncture significantly reduces pain compared to no intervention and may be more effective than analgesics, though high heterogeneity in the data requires cautious interpretation. Conclusion This study demonstrates the effectiveness and safety of electroacupuncture for managing miscarriage side effects, with a need for more diverse and standardized research. Graphical Abstract

Background: Obesity is one of the most prevalent metabolic disorders worldwide, and its long-term management remains challenging due to the limited efficacy and adverse effects of current pharmacological treatments. Accordingly, there is growing interest in safe and effective anti-obesity strategies based on natural compounds. This study aimed to evaluate the anti-obesity effects of HT099, an extract derived from Prunus persica (peach blossom), and to investigate molecular changes associated with its metabolic effects in a high-fat diet (HFD)-induced obesity mouse model. Methods: Male C57BL/6N mice were fed an HFD and orally administered HT099 (50 or 100 mg/kg) or the positive control orlistat (40 mg/kg) for 12 weeks. Body weight, adipose tissue accumulation, food efficiency ratio, glucose tolerance, serum lipid profiles, and hepatic gene expression related to lipid metabolism were evaluated. Results: HT099 supplementation significantly attenuated body weight gain and reduced white adipose tissue accumulation while improving food efficiency ratio. HT099 also ameliorated HFD-induced glucose intolerance and favorably modulated serum lipid profiles, including reduced triglyceride levels, increased HDL-cholesterol levels, and improved non-HDL cholesterol indices. At the molecular level, HT099 administration was associated with an increased hepatic AMPKα1 mRNA expression and decreased expression of adipogenic and lipogenic genes, including C/EBPα, PPARγ, FAS, and SREBP-1c. Conclusions: These findings indicate that HT099 exerts anti-obesity effects in HFD-induced obese mice, accompanied by improvements in lipid and glucose metabolism and changes in adipogenesis- and lipogenesis-related gene expression. Collectively, the results support the potential of HT099 as a natural bioactive agent for obesity management.

The escalating threat of antimicrobial resistance has renewed global interest in peptide-based antibiotics as adaptable and effective alternatives to conventional small molecules. Peptides possess diverse mechanisms of action, high target specificity, and structural flexibility, which collectively limit the emergence of resistance. This review outlines recent advances spanning the discovery, optimization, and application of peptide antibiotics, from their biological origins and structural classifications to emerging strategies involving artificial intelligence, synthetic biology, and modern delivery technologies. Peptide antibiotics can be categorized by origin as natural, semi-synthetic, or fully synthetic, and further organized by structural class such as α-helical, β-sheet, cyclic, and extended forms. They are also grouped by function into membrane-targeted and non-membrane-targeted types. These classification schemes are not only descriptive but also critical for understanding the therapeutic potential of peptides, as each category presents distinct advantages and engineering challenges that influence stability, specificity, and overall clinical performance. Advances in artificial intelligence, synthetic biology, and continuous manufacturing are reshaping how peptide drugs are designed and produced, while innovations in drug delivery systems are addressing critical issues of stability and bioavailability. Together, these developments are laying the foundation for a new generation of peptide-based therapeutics capable of meeting the evolving challenges of antimicrobial resistance.

IntroductionThis study empirically examined the role of perceived parental autonomy support in promoting moral behavior among student-athletes through the Trans-Contextual Model (TCM).MethodsUsing data from 355 Korean high school athletes across 16 sports, we investigated the effects of autonomy support on autonomous and controlled motivations in everyday and sport contexts, and their subsequent influence on moral attitudes, subjective norms, perceived behavioral control, and prosocial and antisocial behaviors.ResultsStructural equation modeling revealed that parental autonomy support positively influenced both autonomous and controlled motivations in daily life, which then transferred to sport contexts. Autonomous motivation significantly predicted moral beliefs and intentions, leading to increased prosocial and decreased antisocial behaviors. Interestingly, controlled motivations also positively impacted subjective norms, suggesting complex motivational processes underlying moral conduct.ConclusionThese findings extend previous research by integrating Self-Determination Theory and the Theory of Planned Behavior, highlighting the importance of motivational quality and contextual transfer in shaping athletes’ moral actions. Practical implications for coaching, parental education, and athlete development programs are discussed, along with directions for future longitudinal and cross-cultural research.

In modern elite football, accurate ball localization is increasingly vital for smooth match flow and reliable officiating. Yet mainstream detectors still struggle with small objects like footballs in cluttered scenes due to limited receptive fields, weak feature representations, and non-trivial computational cost. To address these issues and introduce structural symmetry, we propose a lightweight framework that balances model complexity and representational completeness. Concretely, we design a Dynamic clustering C3k2 module (DcC3k2) to enlarge the effective receptive field and preserve local–global symmetry and a SegNeXt-based noise-attentive C3k2 module (SNAC3k2) to perform multi-scale suppression of background interference. For efficient feature extraction, we adopt GhostNetV2—a lightweight convolutional backbone—thereby maintaining computational symmetry and speed. Experiments on a Football dataset show that our approach improves mAP by 3.4% over strong baselines while reducing computation by 2.2%. These results validate symmetry-aware lightweight design as a promising direction for high-precision small-object detection in football analytics.

This study investigates the risk management mechanisms influencing technological innovation investments in the context of artificial intelligence (AI) development. A quantitative approach was employed, using a structured survey distributed to 300 firms involved in AI-driven innovation across various industries, including healthcare, finance, manufacturing, and technology. The data were analyzed using regression and structural equation modeling (SEM) techniques. The findings reveal that technological uncertainty can positively impact investment success when firms effectively manage risks, with a mean score of 4.2 for technological uncertainty and 3.9 for investment success. In contrast, market risks (mean = 3.6) and regulatory challenges (mean = 3.7) negatively affect outcomes. Additionally, the study highlights the critical role of risk management mechanisms (mean = 4.0) and organizational readiness in moderating these risks. Firms with robust risk management practices and higher organizational preparedness are more likely to achieve successful AI-driven investments. These results contribute to the growing literature on AI-driven innovation by emphasizing the importance of risk management and internal capabilities in navigating the complexities of AI investment.

Helix-loop-helix (HLH) transcription factors are essential regulators of various cellular processes, including growth, differentiation, and development. In Aspergillus fumigatus, a major fungal pathogen, the HLH transcription factor encoded by the AfudrnA gene plays a critical role in the organism’s asexual reproductive cycle. This study provides a comprehensive analysis of AfudrnA and its function in conidiation, a key asexual reproductive process. Through targeted deletion of AfudrnA, we observed a dramatic reduction in conidia production, leading to an aconidial phenotype, which suggests that AfudrnA is indispensable for conidiation in A. fumigatus. The deletion mutants, however, showed no significant changes in growth rate or sensitivity to antifungal agents, indicating that AfudrnA specifically influences conidiation rather than general growth or stress responses. To confirm the role of AfudrnA, we reintroduced the gene into the deletion mutants, which restored normal conidiation, further underscoring its essential role in the process. Moreover, expression analysis revealed that AfudrnA is highly expressed during the early stages of conidiation, with transcript levels peaking 6 h after induction of asexual development. Interestingly, the deletion of AfudrnA also led to a significant downregulation of brlA, a key regulator of conidiation, highlighting a potential regulatory interaction between these two factors. These findings elucidate the critical role of AfudrnA in the conidiation of A. fumigatus and contribute to our understanding of the molecular mechanisms governing asexual reproduction in filamentous fungi. This study not only enhances our knowledge of fungal biology but also provides potential targets for therapeutic intervention against fungal pathogens.