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Bridging the gap between branding and sustainability by fostering brand credibility and brand attachment in travellers’ hotel choice
No full textPurpose: This paper aims to investigate the effects of hotels’ brand attributes on consumers’ (patrons’ and guests’) by fostering brand credibility and brand attachment towards the propensity of word-of-mouth. The study uses the signaling theory to assess the relationships among the constructs. Design/methodology/approach: The study adopts partial least squares structural equation modelling (PLS-SEM) approach to validate the research model and the research hypotheses. To test the hypotheses, 474 travellers in Malaysia were recruited. Findings: The empirical results reveal that hotel attributes have direct influence on brand credibility and brand attachment. Similarly, brand credibility has direct influence on brand attachment, while brand attachment also has direct influence on word-of-mouth. Consumers’ brand credibility partially mediates the relationship between hotel attributes and brand attachment. Likewise, consumer’s brand attachment also partially mediates the relationship between hotel attributes and word-of-mouth. Last but not least, brand credibility and brand attachment sequentially mediate the relationship between hotel attributes and word-of-mouth. The theoretical and practical implications of this study are discussed together with its limitation and future research direction. Originality/value: First, in terms of measures, brand attachment construct is operationalised as a formative second-order construct, with three reflective variables (brand passion, self-brand connection and brand affection) as the first-order constructs. In addition, brand credibility is also operationalised as a formative second-order construct, with three reflective variables (expertise, trustworthiness and attractiveness) as the first-order constructs. On the other hand, hotel attributes construct is operationalised formatively as a higher-order abstraction of three categories of hotel facilities, which were also operationalised formatively (essential, culture compliant and in-room facilities). Second, this paper offers new insight into how brand credibility and brand attachment influence the relationship between hotel attributes and word-of-mouth. In a sustainability era, dissemination of complete and correct information is vital, to ensure consumers’ acceptance (e.g. likelihood to recommend to others). Thus, it is suggested that hotel managers to pay close attention to the role of brand credibility and brand attachment in tourists’ hotel choice, to secure sustainable brand. © 2019, Emerald Publishing Limited
The development of a multi-ethnic and multi-religious society in Malaysia
No full textMalaysia has its own uniqueness with its population consists of multiple races and religions. The presence of this multi-ethnic and multi-religious society is caused by various factors that related to human life such as jobs security, national policy and so on. This article will attempt to examine the factors of the Malaysia’s demographic changes and development which will cover three phases i.e. the Pre-colonial period, the Colonial period and Postcolonial period. It also discusses the historical facts of a multi-ethnic and a multi-religious society in Malaysia. In order to examine the subject matter, library research has been conducted to seek the data needed. Numerous historical literature related to this study have been reviewed. This study shows that the development of multi-ethnic and multi-religious society in Malaysia was caused by several factors such as migration and colonization. These factors triggered demographic changes in Malaysia’s population which can still be noticed as one of the unique features of the state until today. © 2019, Academy of Islamic Studies, Dept of Islamic History and Civilization, University of Malaya. All rights reserved
Analysis of Obesity among Malaysian University Students: A Combination Study with the Application of Bayesian Structural Equation Modelling and Pearson Correlation
No full textIn obesity modelling studies, researchers have been seeking to identify the effective indicators of obesity by using appropriate statistical or mathematical techniques. The main objective of the present study is addressed in three stages. First, a new framework for modelling obesity in university students is introduced. The second stage involves data analysis based on Bayesian Structural Equation Modelling (BSEM) for estimating the Body Mass Index (BMI) (representative of the obesity level) of students at three university levels: Bachelor, Master and PhD. In the third stage, the highest significant correlation is determined between the BMI and other variables in the research model that were found significant through the second phase. The data for this study were collected from students at selected Malaysian universities. The results indicate that unhealthy food intake (fast food and soft drinks), social media use and stress exhibit the highest weightage contributing to overweight and obesity issues for Malaysian university students. © 2019 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland
Morphometric analysis of song watershed: A GIS approach
No full textThe present study conducted in Dehradun district of Uttarakhand state advocates that remotely sensed data and GIS based approach in evaluation of drainage morphometric parameter was more appropriate than the conventional methods. Various linear, aerial and relief aspects were taken into consideration to analyze the morphometry of the study area and digital elevation model (DEM) and slope map of the catchment area were generated from ASTER data of 30 m resolution. The drainage patterns were mainly dendritic to sub dendritic. The slope of the study area had been divided into five equal intervals viz. gentle (00 to 130), moderate (140 to 260), moderately steep (270 to 390), steep (400 to 520), and very steep (530 to 650). The order of stream of the study area ranged from 1st order to 6th order. The variation in stream length ratio might be due to difference in slope and topographic conditions. The variation of bifurcation ratio in the catchment area was ascribed to the difference in topography and geometric development. The drainage density was 2.03 km2 which was moderate. The drainage texture was 8.75 which shows that the lithology is not so complex. © 2019 Ecological Society of India. All rights reserved
Graphene oxide exhibits differential mechanistic action towards Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacteria
No full textThe antibacterial nature of graphene oxide (GO) has stimulated wide interest in the medical field. Although the antibacterial activity of GO towards bacteria has been well studied, a deeper understanding of the mechanism of action of GO is still lacking. The objective of the study was to elucidate the difference in the interactions of GO towards Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacteria. The synthesized GO was characterized by Ultraviolet–visible spectroscopy (UV–vis), Raman and Attenuated Total Reflectance-Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (ATR-FTIR). Viability, time-kill and Lactose Dehydrogenase (LDH) release assays were carried out along with FESEM, TEM and ATR-FTIR analysis of GO treated bacterial cells. Characterizations of synthesized GO confirmed the transition of graphene to GO and the antibacterial activity of GO was concentration and time-dependent. Loss of membrane integrity in bacteria was enhanced with increasing GO concentrations and this corresponded to the elevated release of LDH in the reaction medium. Surface morphology of GO treated bacterial culture showed apparent differences in the mechanism of action of GO towards Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacteria where cell entrapment was mainly observed for Gram-positive Staphylococcus aureus and Enterococcus faecalis whereas membrane disruption due to physical contact was noted for Gram-negative Escherichia coli and Pseudomonas aeruginosa. ATR-FTIR characterizations of the GO treated bacterial cells showed changes in the fatty acids, amide I and amide II of proteins, peptides and amino acid regions compared to untreated bacterial cells. Therefore, the data generated further enhance our understanding of the antibacterial activity of GO towards bacteria. © 201
User perception on urban light rail transit
No full textPublic transport is a shared passenger transport service available for public use. Increased population is accompanied by the increased demand for private vehicles. The exponential growth in the number of private vehicles will result in negative impacts such as air pollution, excessive noise, and traffic congestion. Additionally, customers’ perceptions on different aspects include safety, operation or time, comfortableness and cleanness of public transportation that are also essential in affecting their mode of choice when travelling. The public transport that is discussed in this paper is light rail transit. This paper intends to investigate the main purpose of using light rail transit and elucidate the public perspective of the light rail transit via factor analysis and correlation analysis. A questionnaire with five-point Likert scale was designed, and data were randomly selected from 200 light rail transit users in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. The results revealed that the majority of the customers use light rail transit to school or university. Moreover, most of the users satisfy with the safety, operation, cost, comfortableness and cleanness of the light rail transit. This can be concluded that light rail transit provides mobility and choice for everyone in the context of efficiency, health and safety, affordability, accessibility, and environmental friendliness. © 2019 by authors, all rights reserved
A Novel Reactive Current Injection (RCI) Control for Microgrid Protection with Inverter Based Distributed Generation (IBDG)
No full textAs the development of renewable distributed generations (DGs) is growing rapidly, the autonomous self-healing microgrid had emerged as an effective solution for integrating renewable DGs in the distribution networks. However, before the autonomous self-healing microgrid can be realized, one of the main issues that needs to be resolved is the ability to utilize the most cost-effective protection system—overcurrent relays—to achieve the goal. However, the overcurrent relay is insensitive to the limited fault current contributed by the inverter-based distributed generation (IBDG). Therefore, this paper will propose a novel inverter fault current control with a reactive current injection (RCI) that injects the correct fault current vector, albeit with a limited magnitude, for detection by the cost-effective directional overcurrent relay. This paper will also evaluate the performances of the different RCI controls in delivering an efficient self-healing microgrid protection based on a directional overcurrent relay. The proposed self-healing protection scheme is tested with both a simple distribution test network and also the IEEE 16 bus test system, considering random system parameters like variations in IBDG location, fault location, load capacity and load power factor. Moreover, the performance of the proposed inverter RCI control is also tested under changing weather conditions. © 2019 by the authors
Aberrant left brachiocephalic vein is a contraindication for anterior cervicothoracic approach
No full textAberrant left brachiocephalic vein is a rare condition. Its occurrence in patients requiring anterior cervicothoracic approach for severe kyphoscoliosis has not been described. A 16-year-old male with neurofibromatosis and severe upper thoracic kyphoscoliosis presented to us with curve progression. Halo gravity traction was attempted but failed to achieve significant correction. Subsequently, he underwent halo-pelvic traction and later Posterior Spinal Fusion (PSF) from C2 to T10. Second-stage anterior cervicothoracic approach with anterior fibula strut grafting was planned; however, preoperative computed tomography angiography revealed an aberrant left brachiocephalic vein with an anomalous retrotracheal and retroesophageal course, directly anterior to the T5/T6 vertebrae (planned anchor site for fibula strut graft) before draining into superior vena cava. Therefore, surgery was abandoned due to the risks associated with this anomaly. Aberrant left brachiocephalic vein is rare, the presence of which could be a contraindication for anterior cervicothoracic approach. Assessment of the anterior neurovascular structures is crucial in preoperative planning. © The Author(s) 2019
Marinitenerispora sediminis gen. nov., sp. nov., a member of the family Nocardiopsaceae isolated from marine sediment
No full textThree novel actinobacterial strains, designated as TPS16T, TPS81 and TPS83, were isolated from a sample of marine sediment collected from Tioman Island, Malaysia. The strains formed abundant branched substrate mycelia without fragmentation along with production of blue spores and blue diffusible pigment on soybean meal agar. The strains could grow at pH ranging from pH 6 to 12 and in 0-8% (w/v) NaCl. Cell-wall hydrolysis showed the presence of meso-diaminopimelic acid. The strains were closely related to Marinactinospora thermotolerans SCSIO 00652T (97.60 %) and Marinactinospora endophytica YIM 690053T (96.87%) based on phylogenetic analysis of 16S rRNA gene sequences. Multilocus sequence analysis including gyrB, recA and rpoB genes further confirmed that strain TPS16T represented a distinct branch within the family Nocardiopsaceae. The predominant menaquinones were MK-11(H2), MK-10(H2), MK-11(H4) and MK-10(H4), while the major fatty acids were found to be iso-C16:0, anteiso-C17:0, iso-C15:0 and C18:1ω9c. Genome sequencing revealed genome sizes of approximately 6 Mb and G+C contents of 73.8 mol%. A new genus, Marinitenerispora gen. nov., is proposed within the family Nocardiopsaceae based on polyphasic data and the type species is Marinitenerispora sediminis gen. nov., sp. nov. The type strain is TPS16T (=DSM 46825T=TBRC 5138T). © 2019 The Authors
The 4717C > G polymorphism in periplakin modulates sensitivity to EGFR inhibitors
Get PDFThe use of EGFR inhibitors on oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC) as monotherapy yielded modest clinical outcomes and therefore would benefit from biomarkers that could predict which patient subsets are likely to respond. Here, we determined the efficacy of erlotinib in OSCC cell lines, and by comparing sensitive and resistant lines to identify potential biomarkers. We focused on the 4717C > G polymorphism in periplakin (PPL) where the CC genotype was associated with erlotinib resistance. To validate this, erlotinib-resistant cell lines harbouring CC genotype were engineered to overexpress the GG genotype and vice versa. Isogenic cell lines were then studied for their response to erlotinib treatment. We demonstrated that overexpression of the GG genotype in erlotinib-resistant lines sensitized them to erlotinib and inhibition of AKT phosphorylation. Similarly, the expression of the CC genotype conferred resistance to erlotinib with a concomitant increase in AKT phosphorylation. We also demonstrated that cell lines with the CC genotype generally are more resistant to other EGFR inhibitors than those with the GG genotype. Overall, we showed that a specific polymorphism in the PPL gene could confer resistance to erlotinib and other EGFR inhibitors and further work to evaluate these as biomarkers of response is warranted