The Role of WOM in Affecting the Intention to Purchase Online

Recent studies have focused on the influence of online word-of-mouth (WOM) on tourist behavior. However, the role of traditional versus online WOM on travel decisions remains to be expanded. This chapter addresses this research gap by empirically investigating the impact of offline and online WOM on travel decisions across four different cohorts: Generation Y, Generation X, the Baby Boomers, and the Silent Generation. In addition, it explores generational differences with regard to online booking intentions. Findings reveal that traditional WOM affects travel decisions by all cohorts, with a higher impact for the Baby Boomers and the Silent Generations. Online WOM has a higher influence for younger cohorts, who also show a higher intention to purchase online than older generations. Still, the results show that senior individuals are well aware of the possibilities offered by the Internet as both an information source and a purchase channel

A novel SNP of the PNRC1 gene and its association with reproductive traits in Tsaiya ducks

Proline-rich nuclear receptor coactivator (PNRC)1 is a member of a new family of nuclear receptor coactivators capable of potentiating the transcriptional activity of nuclear receptors. The objective was to investigate the relationship between PNRC1 genotypes of single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) and reproductive traits in ducks. Brown Tsaiya ducks (N 305) from two lines, a control line with no selection and the selected line, were used. Polymerase chain reaction-single strand polymorphism and DNA sequencing were done to screen polymorphisms of the PNRC1 gene. A novel SNP (G98T) in 3=-untranslated region of the PNRC1 gene was identified and resulted in two genotypes, GG and GT. The frequencies of genotype GG and allele G were higher in both lines investigated. Regarding egg weight at first egg (EWFE), based on SNP trait association analysis, ducks with the GG genotype had a 4.48 g per egg greater egg weight at first egg when compared with ducks of the GT genotype in the control line (P 0.05). In addition, this SNP was associated with the hatchability rate (HR) in the selected line; ducks with the GT genotype had a 6.70% higher hatchability rate than those with the GG genotype (P 0.05). Therefore, we inferred that the PNRC1 gene could be a candidate locus or linked to a major gene that influenced egg weight-related and hatchability traits in Tsaiya ducks. Further investigations on additional duck populations with larger sample sizes are needed to confirm these results. � 2012 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved

A novel genetic marker of the ovomucoid gene associated with hatchability in Tsaiya ducks (Anas platyrhynchos)

Transcriptome analysis using a cDNA microarray was performed to identify differentially expressed genes that are correlated with hatchability, and a new PCR-RFLP marker of high hatchability among the identified genes was observed. We used the cDNA microarray technique for gene expression profiling of the magnum epithelium of laying Tsaiya ducks, and several regulated genes associated with hatchability were found. The results of real-time PCR and Western blotting analysis confirmed that the mRNA and protein levels of ovomucoid in the magnum epithelium of animals in the low-hatchability group were significantly higher than the levels in the high-hatchability group ( P < 0.05). Primers TovF1 and TovR1, designed according to the ovomucoid EST sequence, were used to amplify genomic DNA samples of different individual Tsaiya ducks, and sequence analysis of the amplified DNA products showed deletion among the ducks from the low-hatchability group. Primers TovF2 and TovR2 were used to perform PCR-RFLP analysis on the amplified DNA products to classify the ducks into +/+, +/- and -/- genotypes. The animals of +/+ and +/- genotypes were identified as having significantly higher hatchability than those of the -/- genotype ( P < 0.05). In contrast, no differences were observed between genotypes in terms of fertility, duration of fertility, egg weight or total number of eggs. Our results indicated that a novel PCR-RFLP marker of high hatchability, an ovomucoid gene polymorphism, can be used as a genetic marker for marker-assisted selection to improve hatchability in Tsaiya ducks

Intelligent Learning Management Systems: Definition, Features and Measurement of Intelligence

Virtual Learning Environments have been the center of attention in the last few decades and help educators tremendously with providing students with educational resources. Since artificial intelligence was used for educational proposes, learning management system developers showed much interest in making their products smarter and more intelligent. Nevertheless, the questions of what an intelligent learning management system (ILSM) is and which tools and features are needed to make such system intelligent, are not clearly answered, therefore educational institutes do not have a proper tool to decide upon the degree of intelligence they need for their LMSs. This paper proposes a prevalent, thorough definition of “Intelligent Learning Management Systems”, and the design of a fuzzy model to measure the intelligence of these systems. In order to devise a comprehensive definition of an Intelligent Learning Management System, experts from around the world were consulted. Following that, different proposed Intelligent Learning Management Systems were studied, and forty-one features and tools were found and analyzed. After the analysis, experts’ opinions were taken into account to rank these features. The paper proposes thirteen most significant features and tools as criteria to be used in fuzzy analytic hierarchy process (AHP) as a fuzzy model to measure the intelligence of Learning Management System