Taylors University

About: Taylors University is a based out in . It is known for research contribution in the topics: Tourism & Population. The organization has 1513 authors who have published 2954 publications receiving 33603 citations.

Narratives on Facebook: the impact of user-generated content on visiting attitudes, visiting intention and perceptions of destination risk

Abstract: Through an experiment, this paper investigates the impact of online page popularity and message valences of user-generated content in social media on pro-Iran visiting attitudes and behavioural intention as well as perceptions of destination risk. Moreover, the mediating role of perceived risk and visiting attitudes in the effect of page popularity and message valences on visiting intention is examined. Six different versions of pro-Iran visiting community Facebook pages with three different message valences and two levels of popularity were created. One hundred twenty participants were randomly exposed to one of the six Facebook pages and then asked to complete a questionnaire that assessed demographic data; visiting attitude; visiting intention; travel risk type; and perceived risk index. The perceived risk index was developed by this study through conducting online open-ended interviews. The findings show that success stories and high popularity lead to more positive attitude, higher level of intention to visit, and lower perceptions of destination risk than failure stories and low popularity. Popularity dampens the negative effect of failure stories on users’ visiting attitudes. Moreover, perceived risk underlies the pathway of page popularity and message valences to individuals’ visiting attitude and intention.

Optimizing Injection Molding Parameters of Different Halloysites Type-Reinforced Thermoplastic Polyurethane Nanocomposites via Taguchi Complemented with ANOVA.

Abstract: Halloysite nanotubes-thermoplastic polyurethane (HNTs-TPU) nanocomposites are attractive products due to increasing demands for specialized materials. This study attempts to optimize the parameters for injection just before marketing. The study shows the importance of the preparation of the samples and how well these parameters play their roles in the injection. The control parameters for injection are carefully determined to examine the mechanical properties and the density of the HNTs-TPU nanocomposites. Three types of modified HNTs were used as untreated HNTs (uHNTs), sulfuric acid treated (aHNTs) and a combined treatment of polyvinyl alcohol (PVA)-sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS)-malonic acid (MA) (treatment (mHNTs)). It was found that mHNTs have the most influential effect of producing HNTs-TPU nanocomposites with the best qualities. One possible reason for this extraordinary result is the effect of SDS as a disperser and MA as a crosslinker between HNTs and PVA. For the highest tensile strength, the control parameters are demonstrated at 150 °C (injection temperature), 8 bar (injection pressure), 30 °C (mold temperature), 8 min (injection time), 2 wt % (HNTs loading) and mHNT (HNTs type). Meanwhile, the optimized combination of the levels for all six control parameters that provide the highest Young's modulus and highest density was found to be 150 °C (injection temperature), 8 bar (injection pressure), 32 °C (mold temperature), 8 min (injection time), 3 wt % (HNTs loading) and mHNT (HNTs type). For the best tensile strain, the six control parameters are found to be 160 °C (injection temperature), 8 bar (injection pressure), 32 °C (mold temperature), 8 min (injection time), 2 wt % (HNTs loading) and mHNT (HNTs type). For the highest hardness, the best parameters are 140 °C (injection temperature), 6 bar (injection pressure), 30 °C (mold temperature), 8 min (injection time), 2 wt % (HNTs loading) and mHNT (HNTs type). The analyses are carried out by coordinating Taguchi and ANOVA approaches. Seemingly, mHNTs has shown its very important role in the resulting product.

Social media influencers - shaping consumption culture among Malaysian youth

Abstract: This study reveals the significance of social networking sites (SNS) that created vast opportunities for cultural awareness and consumption among youth SNS users in Malaysia. Simplicity and user-friendly features on Instagram had heightened interest and growth of its users where the ability to “hashtag” on Instagram identifies current trends based on user-generated images and videos that enable users to generate search results instantaneously. Researchers have argued that SNS users at present trust peer recommendations more than search engines and this phenomenon is evident from their resonance with “social media influencers” (SMIs) who are capable of influencing massive followers through reviews of products, services and social trends on their social media accounts; particularly on dining out and “cafehopping” as a social experience. This study examined the curation of Instagram posts by SMIs and found that their visibility of content created shared voices and reinforced cultural identities among their followers. The content analysis deployed in this study also investigated feedback on the selected SMI’s curation of posts and established that peer engagement is a tangible socialization process that would contribute to the youths’ future use of Instagram as a social, cultural and educational tool.

Native agarose gel electrophoresis and electroelution: A fast and cost-effective method to separate the small and large hepatitis B capsids

Abstract: Hepatitis B core antigen (HBcAg) expressed in Escherichia coli is able to self-assemble into large and small capsids comprising 240 (triangulation number T = 4) and 180 (triangulation number T = 3) subunits, respectively. Conventionally, sucrose density gradient ultracentrifugation and SEC have been used to separate these capsids. However, good separation of the large and small particles with these methods is never achieved. In the present study, we employed a simple, fast, and cost-effective method to separate the T = 3 and T = 4 HBcAg capsids by using native agarose gel electrophoresis followed by an electroelution method (NAGE-EE). This is a direct, fast, and economic method for isolating the large and small HBcAg particles homogenously based on the hydrodynamic radius of the spherical particles. Dynamic light scattering analysis demonstrated that the T = 3 and T = 4 HBcAg capsids prepared using the NAGE-EE method are monodisperse with polydispersity values of ∼15% and ∼13%, respectively. ELISA proved that the antigenicity of the capsids was not affected in the purification process. Overall, NAGE-EE produced T = 3 and T = 4 capsids with a purity above 90%, and the recovery was 34% and 50%, respectively (total recovery of HBcAg is ∼84%), and the operation time is 15 and 4 times lesser than that of the sucrose density gradient ultracentrifugation and SEC, respectively.