• Clinical and Experimental Reproductive Medicine
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• v.34 no.1
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• pp.41-48
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• 2007

Objective: To determine whether the presence of Y-chromosome microdeletion affects the outcome of in vitro fertilization (IVF) and intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI) program. Methods: Fourteen couples with microdeletion in azoospermic factor (AZF)c region who attempted IVF/ICSI or cryopreserved and thawed embryo transfer cycles were enrolled. All of the men showed severe oligoasthenoteratoazoospermia (OATS) or azoospermia. As a control, 12 couples with OATS or azoospermia and having normal Y-chromosome were included. Both groups were divided into two subgroups by sperm source used in ICSI such as those who underwent testicular sperm extraction (TESE) and those used ejaculate sperm. We retrospectively analyzed our database in respect to the IVF outcomes. The outcome measures were mean number of good quality embryos, fertilization rates, implantation rates, $\beta$-hCG positive rates, early pregnancy loss and live birth rates. Results: Mean number of good quality embryos, implantation rates, $\beta$-hCG positive rates, early pregnancy loss rates and live birth rates were not significantly different between Y-chromosome microdeletion and control groups. But, fertilization rates in the Y-chromosome microdeletion group (61.1%) was significantly lower than that of control group (79.8%, p=0.003). Also, the subgroup underwent TESE and having AZFc microdeletion showed significantly lower fertilization rates (52.9%) than the subgroup underwent TESE and having normal Y-chromosome (79.5%, p=0.008). Otherwise, in the subgroups used ejaculate sperm, fertilization rates were showed tendency toward lower in couples having Y-chromosome microdeletion than couples with normal Y-chromosome. (65.5% versus 79.9%, p=0.082). But, there was no significance statistically. Conclusions: In IVF/ICSI cycles using TESE sperm, presence of V-chromosome microdeletion may adversely affect to fertilization ability of injected sperm. But, in cases of ejaculate sperm available for ICSI, IVF outcome was not affected by presence of Y-chromosome AZFc microdeletion. However, more larger scaled prospective study was needed to support our results.

• Magazine of the Korean Society of Agricultural Engineers
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• v.22 no.4
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• pp.82-95
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• 1980

This paper complies the results of the studies so far made on the subsoil improvement of subsurface drainage systems for wet paddy fields (those were located in the Gum-Ho area in Kyung Buk province) which had poor permeability and a high water table. In general, a drainage problem is an excess of water on the ground surface which can effect the productivity and bearing capacity of the soil. With drain pipe systems, (According to their depths and spacing) it may be possible to correct that problem. The experimentation consisted of three test plots, two of which included drain pipe systems with varing depths and width spacing of the pipes. The third plot (C) was an ordinary plot being exempt of a drain pipe system. In detail, the depth of plot A was 80 cm, and the width spacings began at 2. Om and increased by 2. Om up to 10. 0m. The depth of plot B was 60cm and the width spacing was the same as plot A. These tests were performed to research specific details; such as crop yeild, bearing capacity of the soil, the amount of underdrainage, surface cracks, root distribution, the water table level, the consumptive water depth and the soil moisture content. The test period lasted three years, from 1977 thru 1979. The results obtained were as follows: 1. During the test period, the weather conditions for the area tested were in accordance with the annual average for that area. Furthermore the precipitation factor during the spring cultivation season, the intermediate drainage period and the harvest drainage period was of optimum conditions for controling surface cracks, because of less precipitation than evaporation. 2. The difference in the level of the ground water table in plots A and B was hardly noticable, but the difference in the test plots and the ord. plot was greatly noticable. The test plots (A, B) were 30 to 40cm lower than the ordinary plot. On the whole, the ground water table of the ord. plot always stayed at a level of 15-20cm beneath the surface of the soil, the ground water table of the test plot A showed The difference in the depth of the pipe lower than the test plot B, while the test plots showed a remarkable descending effect. 3. The soil temperature in plot A was slightly core than in plot B with a difference of 0. 47$^{\circ}$C, but plot A was 1. 6$^{\circ}$C higher than the ord. plot during the flooding period, but after drainage the temperature difference climed to 2. 0$^{\circ}$C. 4. During the 3rd test year, the values of the cracks were recorded with the values of 59cm in plot A, 42cm in plot B and 15cm in the ordinary plot. Plots A and B had increased 2.5 times the value of the first year while the ordinary plot had remained the same. 5. The root weight of the rice was measured at a value of 77.2 gr. for plot A, 73.5 gr. for plot B and 65.3 gr. for the ord. plot. Therefore, the root growths in plots A and B were much more energetic than in the ord. plot. 6. The consumptive water depth measured during the 3rd year resulted in the values of 26. 0mm per day for plot A, and 24.9 mm per day for plot B, respectively. Therefore, both plot A and plot B maintained the optimum consumptive water depths, but the ordinary plot only obtained the value of 12.3 mm per day, which clearly showed less than the optimum consumptive water depth which is 20 to 30 mm/day. 7. The soil moisture content is in direct relationship to the ground water level. During drainage, test plot A decreased in its ground water level much more rapidly than the other two plots. Therefore, plot A had a much less soil moisture content. But this decreased water level could be directly effected by the weather conditions. 8. The relationship between the bearing capacity and the soil moisture content were directly inversely proportional. It can be assumed that the occurence of soil creaks is limited by the soil moisture content. Therefore, the greater the progress of the surface creaks resulted in a greater bearing capacity. So, tast plot A with a greater amount of surface cracks than the other test plots resulted in a greater bearing capacity. But, the bearing capacity at the harvest season could be effected by the drainage during the intermediate drainage period and by the weather conditions. 9. Comparing the production of the test plots to the ord. plot; there was an increased value of 840kg for plot A, 755kg for plot B and 695kg for the ord. plot in the rough rice. Therefore, plot A had an increase of 20% over the ordinary plot. The possibility of producing double crops was investigated. The effects on barley production in the test plots showed a value of 367kg per 10 acres, which substantiated the possibility of double crops because that value showed an increased value over the average yearly yield for those uplands. 10. So as a result, it can be recommended that by including a drain pipe system with the optimum conditions of an (80cm centimeter) depth and a (l0m) spacing will have a definite positive effect on the over all production capacity and quality of wetpaddy fields.

• Journal of Korean Society of Environmental Engineers
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• v.39 no.11
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• pp.613-625
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• 2017

For two agricultural reservoirs that are rented for fishing spots, benthic nutrient fluxes experiment were performed two times with two sediments from fishing-effective zone and one sediment from fishing-ineffective zone using laboratory core incubation in oxic and anoxic conditions. During benthic nutrient fluxes experiment, the changes in DO, EC, pH, and ORP in the supernatant were not significantly different between fishing-effective zone and fishing-ineffective zone, and were similar to the sediment-hypolimnetic diffused boundary layer in agricultural reservoir. Except for $NO_3{^-}-N$, more benthic nutrient fluxes of $NH_4{^+}-N$, T-P, and $PO{_4}^{3-}-P$ from sediment to hypolimnetic was measured in anoxic than in oxic conditions (p<0.05). As the DO concentration in hypolimnetic decreases, the microorganism-mediated ammonification is promoted, the nitrification is suppressed, and finally the $NH_4{^+}-N$ diffuses out from sediment to hypolimnetic. Also, the diffusion of T-P and $PO{_4}^{3-}-P$ from sediments to hypolimnetic is accelerated through the dissociation of the phosphorus bound to both organic matters and metal hydroxides. The difference in the benthic nutrient diffusive fluxes between fishing-effective zone and fishing-ineffective zone was not statistically significant (p>0.05). Therefore, it was found that fishing activities did not increase the benthic nutrient diffusive fluxes to a statistically significant level. Due to the short fishing activities of 10 years and the rate-limited diffusion of the laboratory core incubation, the contribution of fishing activities on sediment pollution is estimated to be low. No significant correlation was found between the total amount of nutrients in sediment and the benthic nutrient diffusive fluxes in both aerobic and anaerobic conditions. Therefore, nutrients input from various nonpoint sources of watersheds are considered to be a more dominant factor rather than fishing activities in water quality deterioration, and both aeration and water circulation in hypolimnetic were required to suppress the anoxic environment in agricultural reservoirs.

• The Korean Journal of Food And Nutrition
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• v.29 no.1
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• pp.65-72
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• 2016

Black tomato (Lycopersicum esculentum) is known to have more ${\beta}-carotene$, lycopene, and vitamin C than general red-colored tomatoes. In this study, we evaluated the quality properties, antioxidant activities and sensory characteristics of black tomato cookies. Cookies were prepared by replacing 0, 1, 3, 5, and 7% of flour with black tomato powder. Density of black tomato cookies tended to be decreased between control (1.20) and 3% added groups (1.12). pH value was decreased from control (6.66) to 7% added group (5.16). Spread factor and loss rate were increased with increasing amounts of black tomato powder. Hardness was gradually increased from $107.77g/cm^2$ in control to $170.50g/cm^2$ in 7% added group. Color measurement indicated that L-value (brightness) was highest in control (70.46) and lowest in 7% added group (45.23); whereas, a-value (redness) increased while b-value (yellowness) tended to decrease with increasing amounts of black tomato powder. Total polyphenol contents and DPPH radical scavenging activities were directly proportional to the amount of black tomato powder. Consumer preference scores in color and flavor of black tomato powder added group were higher than those of control. Characteristic strength test was not significantly different among the groups. Overall, the results indicated that adding 5% black tomato powder is desirable for making black tomato cookies.

• Korean Journal of Food Science and Technology
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• v.30 no.3
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• pp.608-614
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• 1998

In order to establish the scientific foundations for the production of Korean traditional kanjang (soy sauce) in a semi-pilot scale, meju preparation and kanjang mashing methods were investigated. Two types of meju, one that was prepared by conventional method (CM-meju) and the other that prepared by modified conventional method (MCM-meju), were made and compared their characteristics. The former made of cooked and crushed soybean with a brick shape was fermented at $15{\sim}20^{\circ}C\;and\;40{\sim}50%$ relative humidity (RH) for 30 days in koji room and the latter was fermented at $25{\sim}30^{\circ}C\;and\;80{\sim}90%$ RH seemingly being optimum for the growth of meju-organisms for the same period. The quality of MCM-meju as a raw material for the kanjang preparation was considered to be superior to that of CM-meju as the higher soluble nitrogen and total free amino acids content, the major factor for the evaluation of the quality of meju, were found in the former although the higher total nitrogen content and lower % weight loss were observed in the latter during meju preparation process. The quality of MCM-kanjang with higher total nitrogen, free amino acids, free sugars and the lower residual nitrogen content in cake after separation of kanjang was also found to be superior to that of CM-kanjang in sensory evaluation results.

• Journal of Home Health Care Nursing
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• v.8 no.1
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• pp.5-24
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• 2001

The purpose of this study was to develop a parenting intervention program and determine the efficacy of the program with low-birth weight infants and their mothers. Nine dyads for the experimental group and twelve dyads for the control group discharged from the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit of a University Hospital in Seoul were recruited for the study. For the intervention group, programmed education and support which focused on the maternal sensitivity of the infant's behavior. rearing environment. motherinfant interaction and infant care were given to each subject. Individual counseling and home visits were provided at discharge, one week after discharge. and one and three months of corrected age in every infant. Structured questionaires were administered and feeding interactions were videotaped and coded by a blinded certified observer. A Quasi-experimental design was conducted for this study. Postpartum depression, maternal self esteem. infant care burden, HOME. mother-infant interaction, and infant development were measured. Results were in favor of the intervention versus the control group. On the Beck depression inventory, intervention mothers showed decreasing trends in depressive symptom vs control mothers although, there were statistically no significant differences between the two groups at each time. The mean score of experimental group was 11.55(mild depression state) at discharge and became 8,6(normal state) at 1 month of corrected age. On the other hand, the mean score of the control group was 13.92(mild depression state) at discharge and became 14.0. Maternal self esteem in both groups improved over time. Infant care burden in both groups was also shown to increase over time. There was a significant difference between the two groups in HOME(p=.0340) at 3 months of corrected age. HOME scores of the experimental group and the control's were 31.10 and 25.58, respectively. Mothers' emotional and language responses were significantly high in the intervention group compared with the control group(p=.0155). Intervention group (53.33) showed a significantly high quality of motherinfant interaction compared with the in control group (42.80)(p =.0340). Intervention group mothers appeared have a better quality of mother-infant interaction behaviors. On the other hand, there was no statistical difference in the infant part between groups. Intervention group infants had higher trends in a general developmental quotient: although, there was no statistical difference between groups. The general developmental quotient of intervention infants was 102.56 and control's was 91.28. However, the developmental quotient of the domain of 'individuality-sociality' was higher in the intervention group infants compared with the control's(p=.0155). The concerns identified by parents revealed two domains of an infants' health management -knowledge and skills in caregiving of lowbirthweight-infants, characteristics of lowbirthweight infants, identifying a developmental milestone, coping with emergency situations and relaxation strategies of mothers from the infant care burden. Interview data with the mothers of low-birth weight infants can be used to develop intervention program contents. Limited intervention time and frequency due to time and cost limitations of this study should be modified. The intervention should be continuously implemented when low-birth weight infants become three years old. An NNNS demonstration appeared to be a very effective intervention for the mothers to improve the quality of mother-infant interactions. Therefore intervening in the mothers of low-birth weight infants as early after delivery as possible is desirable. This study has shown that home visit interventions are worthwhile for mothers only beyond the approach as an essential factor in ability of facilitating a growth fostering environment. In conclusion. the intervention program of this study was very effective in enhancing the parenting for the mothers of low-birth weight infants, resulting in health promotion of low-birth weight infants. The home-visit outreach intervention program of this study will contribute to the health delivery system in this country where there is a lack of continuous follow-up programs for low-birth weight infants after discharge from NICU, if it is activated as part of the home visit programs in community health systems.

• Nuclear Medicine and Molecular Imaging
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• v.42 no.1
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• pp.61-69
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• 2008

Purpose: Micro-pinhole SPECT system with conventional multiple-head gamma cameras has the advantage of high magnification factor for imaging of rodents. However, several geometric factors should be calibrated to obtain the SPECT image with good image quality. We developed a simplified geometric calibration method for rotating triple-head pinhole SPECT system and assessed the effects of the calibration using several phantom and rodent imaging studies. Materials and Methods: Trionix Triad XLT9 triple-head SPECT scanner with 1.0 mm pinhole apertures were used for the experiments. Approximately centered point source was scanned to track the angle-dependent positioning errors. The centroid of point source was determined by the center of mass calculation. Axially departed two point sources were scanned to calibrate radius of rotation from pinhole to center of rotation. To verify the improvements by the geometric calibration, we compared the spatial resolution of the reconstructed image of Tc-99m point source with and without the calibration. SPECT image of micro performance phantom with hot rod inserts was acquired and several animal imaging studies were performed. Results: Exact sphere shape of the point source was obtained by applying the calibration and axial resolution was improved. Lesion detectibility and image quality was also much improved by the calibration in the phantom and animal studies. Conclusion: Serious degradation of micro-pinhole SPECT images due to the geometric errors could be corrected using a simplified calibration method using only one or two point sources.

• Sleep Medicine and Psychophysiology
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• v.10 no.1
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• pp.32-38
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• 2003

Objectives: The purpose of this study is to investigate the effects of stress and personality on sleep patterns, and further, to identify potential correlations between stress and personality characteristics. Methods: A total of 174 healthy college students were subjects for this study. Participants filled out the Daily Stress Inventory before sleep and the Modified Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index after sleep on three consecutive days. They also filled out the 16 Personality Factor Questionnaire (16-PF), BDI (Beck Depression Inventory) and STAI (State-Trait Anxiety Inventory). Results: Minor stresses highly correlated with subjective sleep quality and symptoms of non-restorative sleep. However, total sleep time, sleep latency, awakening frequency, and frequency of dreams were not explained by stress scores. The O (guilty feeling), C (low ego strength) and Q4 (high anxiety) factors of the 16-PF also highly correlated with symptoms of non-restorative sleep and significantly affected sleep patterns. BDI and STAI scores also correlated with the above personality factors and minor stresses. Conclusion: This study showed that minor stresses impaired the restorative effects of sleep. Personality characteristics such as low ego strength, high levels of anxiety, and feelings of guilt were vulnerable to minor stresses. Minor stress, various personality characteristics, different coping patterns, and emotional response are highly correlated with each other and affect sleep patterns.

• Food Science and Preservation
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• v.24 no.8
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• pp.1103-1112
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• 2017

This study was performed to investigate the effects of different cooking methods (boiling, roasting, stir-frying, and deep-frying) on folate retention in 6 kinds of mushrooms (Beech-, button-, Juda's ear-, oak-, oyster-, and winter-mushrooms) frequently consumed in Korea. In order to assure reliability of analytical data, trienzyme extraction-L casei method was verified and analytical quality control was also evaluated. Folate contents of mushrooms varied by 6.04-64.82 g/100 g depending on the type of mushrooms. and were significantly affected by cooking methods. Depending on cooking methods, folate contents of mushrooms decreased by 22-48%, 2-31%, and 17-56% for Juda's ear-, oak- and oyster-mushrooms, respectively, while 17-90% of folate was increased in Beech mushroom. Overall, the largest weight loss was found in boiled mushrooms, but the lowest one in deep-fried samples. True folate retention rates considering processing factor were less than 100% for all cooked mushrooms except for Beech samples. Overall, folate loss was the largest by boiling with water but the smallest by deep-frying. Both accuracy and precision of trienzyme extraction-L-casei method were excellent based on a recovery close to 100% and coefficient variations less than 3%. Quality control chart of folate analysis (n=26) obtained during the entire study and an international proficiency test (z-score=-0.5) showed that trienzyme extraction-L casei method is reliable enough for production of national folate database.

• Journal of Global Scholars of Marketing Science
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• v.18 no.2
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• pp.65-88
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• 2008

Since the implementation of economic reforms in 1978, the Chinese economy grows rapidly at an average annul growth rate of 9% over the post two decades. Franchising has been widely recognized as an important source of entrepreneurial activity. Trust is important in that it facilitates relational exchanges by permits partners to transcend short-run inequities or risks to concentrate on long-term profits or gains. In the relationship between the franchisors and franchisees, trust has been described as an important source of competitive advantage. However, little research has been done on the factors affecting trust in Chinese franchisor-franchisee relationships. The purpose of this study is to investigate what factors affect the trust in the franchise system in China, and to provide guidelines and insights to franchisors which enter Chinese market. In this study, according to Morgan and Hunt (1994), trust is defined as the extending when one party has confidence in an exchange partner's reliability and integrity. We offered a conceptual model of the empirical study. The model shows that the factors affecting the trust include franchisor's supports, communication, satisfaction with previous outcome and conflict. We also suggested the franchisor's supports and communication like to enhance the franchisee's satisfaction with previous outcome, and the franchisor's supports, communication and he franchisee's satisfaction with previous outcome tend to decrease conflict. Before the formal study, a pretest involving exploratory interviews with owners from three franchisees was conducted to make sure the questionnaire was relevant and clear to the respondents. The data were collected using trained interviewers to carry out personal interviews with the aid of an unidentified, muti-page, structured questionnaire. The respondents comprised of owners, managers, and owner managers of franchisee-owned food service franchises located in Beijing, China. Even though a total of 256 potential franchises were initially contacted, the finally usable sample consisted of 125 respondents. As expected, the sampling method was successful in soliciting respondents with waried personal and firm characteristics. Self-administrated questionnaires were used for all measures. And established scales were used to measure the latent constructs in this study. The measures tapped the franchisees' perceptions of the relationship with the referent franchisor. Five-point Likert-type scales ranging from "strongly disagree" (=1) to "strongly agree" (=7) were used throughout the constructs (trust, eight items; support, five items; communication, four items; satisfaction, six items; conflict, three items). The reliability measurements traditionally employed, such as the Cronbach's alpha, were used. All the reliabilities were greater than.80. The proposed measurement model was estimated using SPSS 12.0 and AMOS 5.0 analysis package. We conducted A series of exploratory factor analyses and confirmatory factor analyses to assess the convergent validity, discriminant validity, and reliability. The results indicate reasonable overall fits between the model and the observed data. The overall fit of measurement model were $X^2$= 159.699, p=0.004, d.f. = 116, GFI =.879, NFI =.898, CFI =.969, IFI =.970, TLI =.959, RMR =.058. The results demonstrated that the data reasonably fitted the model. We also examined construct reliability and reliability and average variance extracted (AVE). The construct reliability of each construct was greater than.80 and the AVE of each construct was greater than.50. According to the analysis of Structure Equation Modeling (SEM), the results of path model indicated an adequate fit of the model: $X^2$= 142.126, p = 0.044, d.f. = 115, GFI =.892, NFI =.909, CFI =.981, IFI =.981, TLI =.974, RMR =.057. As hypothesized, the results showed that it is strategically important to establish trust in a franchise system, and the franchisor's supports, communication and satisfaction with previous outcome tend to reinforce franchisee's trust. The results also showed trust seems to decrease as the experience of conflict episodes increases. And we also noticed that franchisor's supports and communication tend to enhance the franchisee's satisfaction with previous outcome, and communication tend to decrease conflict. If the trust between the franchisor and franchisee can be established in a franchise system, franchising offers many benefits and reduces many costs. To manage a mutual trust of relationship with their franchisees, franchisor's should provide support effectively to their franchisees. Effective assistant services have direct effect on franchisees' satisfaction with previous outcome and trust in franchisor. Especially, franchise sales process, orientation, and training in the start-up period are key elements for success of the franchise system. Franchisor's support is an accumulated separate satisfaction evaluation with different kind of service provided by the franchisor. And providing support definitely can improve the trustworthy image of the franchisor. In the franchise system, conflicts of interests and exertions of different power sources are very common. The experience of conflict episodes seems to negatively relate to trust. Therefore, it is important to reduce the negative side of the relationship conflicts. Communication actually plays a broader role in reducing conflict and establish mutual trust in franchisor-franchisee relationship. And effective communication between franchisors and franchisees can improve franchisees' satisfaction toward the franchise system. As the diversification of Chinese markets, both franchisors and franchisees must keep the relevant, timely, and reliable communication. And it is very important to improve the quality of communication. Satisfaction with precious outcomes seems to positively relate to trust. Franchisors and franchisees that are highly satisfied with the previous outcomes that flow from their relationship will perceive their partner as advancing their goal achievement. Therefore, it is necessary for both franchisor and their franchisees to make the welfare of partner with effort. Little literature has focused on what factors affect the trust between franchisors and their franchisees in China. This study developed the hypotheses regarding the factors affecting trust in the transaction relationship. The results of data analysis supported the hypotheses strongly. There are certain limitations in this study. First, we may point out that some other factors missed in this study could be significantly important. Second, the context of this study, food service industry, limits its potential generalizability for all franchise systems. More studies in different categories of franchise system are needed to broaden its generalizability. Third, the model was tested empirically in a sample in Beijing, more empirical tests of the proposed model in other Chinese areas are needed. Finally, the analysis in this study was solely based on the perception of franchisees and the opinions of franchisors were not included.