Facebook as a second screen: An influence on sport consumer satisfaction and behavioral intention

Little research has examined the use of social media as people watch live sporting telecasts—an activity that has been referred to as the second screen phenomenon. The paper proposes and tests a second screen consumer engagement model that captures the actions of Facebook users (N = 299) while watching a live sport telecast. Findings highlight the direct and indirect effect of social camaraderie, subjective norm, fan emotion and purposive needs on sport consumers’ satisfaction and behavioral intention. The behavioral intention of consumers when using Facebook as a second screen was associated with the increased likelihood of using the platform to purchase team products, make recommendations and investigate sponsors. The proposed model contributes to the emerging literature highlighting the increasing importance of social media as an interactive support channel when people watch live telecasts. The findings have practical implications for managers by providing insights and understanding of consumers when watching telecast sport. Although tested with Thai English Premier League fans, the findings will have relevance across different sports and other business sectors.     

Effects of silane and MAPE coupling agents on the properties and interfacial adhesion of wood-filled PVC/LDPE blend

Composite samples were prepared from Poly(vinyl chloride)/low-density polyethylene (PVC/LDPE) blend, compatibilized by PA20 (methyl methacrylate-co-butyl acrylate copolymer), and reinforced by different levels of rubber-wood sawdust. To improve the mechanical properties of the composites, Silane A-137 (Octyltriethoxy silane), Silane A-1100 (γ-aminopropyltriethoxy silane), or MAPE (maleic anhydride-grafted-polyethylene) were introduced. It was found that the additions of Silane A-137, Silane A-1100, and MAPE could improve tensile and impact properties of the composites, regardless of the sawdust contents. Physical or chemical interactions for all coupling agents with the wood-PVC/LDPE composites used were proposed in this work. Silane A-137 or MAPE tended to give better improvement in the mechanical properties of the composites than Silane A-1100, because of the presence of the nonpolar chain ends of Silane A-137 or MAPE molecules. Besides, the addition of either Silane A-137 and MAPE or Silane A-1100 and MAPE at different ratios into the wood-PVC/LDPE composites was also studied. The experimental results suggested that the optimum mechanical properties could be obtained using Silane A-137 : MAPE of 1% : 2% wt sawdust. The morphological and thermal properties of the composites were also examined using SEM and DMA techniques, respectively. © 2008 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci, 2008     

Bacteriological survey of water and ice for general uses in Thailand

Bacteriological quality of water in Chanthaburi province in Thailand was assessed at monthly intervals throughout one year. Water supplies, public wells, bottling factories, reservoirs for rain water and an ice factory were examined. Plesiomonas shigelloides was detected from water supply samples and from well water. Shigella and Salmonella were detected from the treated water supply. Counts of coliform bacteria were above the limit in some cases.     

The role of nanofillers on (natural rubber)/(ethylene vinyl acetate)/clay nanocomposite in blending and foaming

Nanocomposite foams were fabricated from 60/40 wt% ethylene vinyl acetate (EVA)/natural rubber (NR) blends by using azodicarbonamide as a blowing agent. Two different nanofillers (sodium montmorillonite and organoclay) were employed to study their effects on foam properties. The results were also compared with conventional (china clay)‐filled foams. Transmission electron microscopy, X‐ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy, and three‐dimensional Microfocus X‐ray computed tomography scanning analysis were performed to characterize the EVA/NR blend morphology and foam structures. The results revealed that the nanofiller acted as a blend compatibilizer. Sodium montmorillonite was more effective in compatibilization, generating better phase‐separated EVA/NR blend morphology and improving foam structure. Higher filler loading increased the specific tensile strength of rubber foams. The rubber nanocomposite foam showed superior specific tensile strength to the conventional rubber composite foam. The elastic recovery and compressive strength of the nanocomposite foams decreased with increasing filler content, whereas the opposite trend was observed for the conventional composite foams with china clay. The thermal conductivity measurement indicated that the nanofiller had better beneficial effect on thermal insulation over china clay filler. From the present study, the nanofillers played an important role in obtaining better blend morphology as compatibilizer, rather than the nucleating agent and the nanofiller content of 5 phr (parts by weight per hundred parts of rubber) was recommended for the production of EVA/NR nanocomposite foams. J. VINYL ADDIT. TECHNOL., 21:134–146, 2015. © 2014 Society of Plastics Engineers     

Degradation mechanism and mechanical properties of PVC in PVC‐PE melt blends: Effects of molecular architecture,content, and MFI of PE

Thermal degradation mechanism and mechanical properties of poly(vinyl chloride) (PVC) in PVC–polyethylene (PE) mixtures with varying types, contents, and melt flow indexes of the PE were studied. The degradation behavior was investigated in terms of decomposition temperature and glass transition temperature, polyene index, and morphology of the PVC in the mix. The results suggested that adding small amounts of PE (5 phr) in PVC‐PE mixtures could thermally stabilize the PVC, as noted by an increase in its decomposition temperature. At higher PE loading, the PVC encountered more degradation as a result of a consumption of the heat stabilizer by PE radicals and the dehydrochlorination reaction. A radical transfer reaction was proposed to explain the degradation mechanism of the PVC in the PVC‐PE melt, specifically a progressive increase of the glass transition temperature of the PVC in the mix as a result of increasing PE content. The PVC‐PE blend using HDPE with high MFI exhibited more pronounced thermal and structural changes of PVC. The mechanical properties of the PVC‐PE blend were very much dependent on the PE content, but slightly affected by the type and MFI value of the PE. The dispersion level of the PE in the PVC phase was found to play an important role in affecting the mechanical properties of the PVC‐PE mixtures. J. VINYL. ADDIT. TECHNOL. 12:115–123, 2006. © 2006 Society of Plastics Engineers     

Structural changes of PVC in PVC/LDPE melt‐blends: Effects of LDPE content and number of extrusions

This paper investigates the structural changes of polyvinyl chloride (PVC) in melt‐blends of a low‐density polyethylene (LDPE) and polyvinyl chloride (PVC), and the effects of LDPE content and number of extrusion passes. These effects were examined in terms of changes in weight average molecular weight and number average molecular weight, polyene and carbonyl indices, color changes of the blend, and the variations in glass transition and decomposition temperatures. It was found that loading LDPE into PVC led to the formation of short‐chain LDPE grafted PVC (s‐LDPE‐g‐PVC) copolymers, via a macro‐radical cross‐recombination reaction, which had greater weight average molecular weight with unchanged number average molecular weight, increased decomposition temperature, lower glass transition temperature, as compared to the pure PVC sample. The dehydrochlorination reaction of PVC was suppressed by the macro‐radical cross‐recombination reaction with addition of LDPE, the effect being more pronounced at 13.0 wt% LDPE. For a given LDPE content, the macro‐radical cross‐recombination and dehydrochlorination reactions competed with one another, thus causing the increases in molecular weight average and molecular weight number up to the 4th extrusion pass. At the 5th extrusion pass, the dehydrochlorination reaction was predominant owing to a depletion of LDPE content to be grafted onto PVC molecular chains. The glass transition and decomposition temperature decreased with increasing number of extrusion passes. Polym. Eng. Sci. 44:487–495, 2004. © 2004 Society of Plastics Engineers.     

Analysis of low‐density polyethylene‐g‐poly(vinyl chloride) copolymers formed in poly(vinyl chloride)/low‐density polyethylene melt blends with gel permeation chromatography and solid‐state 13C‐NMR

Gel permeation chromatography (GPC) and solid‐state ¹³C‐NMR techniques were used to analyze the structural changes of poly(vinyl chloride) (PVC) in blends of a low‐density polyethylene (LDPE) and PVC during melt blending. The GPC results showed that the weight‐average molecular weight (M_w) of PVC increased with LDPE content up to 13.0 wt % and then decreased at a LDPE content of 16.7 wt %, whereas the number‐average molecular weight remained unchanged for all of LDPE contents used. The ¹³C‐NMR results suggest that the increase in M_w was associated with the formation of a LDPE‐g‐PVC structure, resulting from a PVC and LDPE macroradical cross‐recombination reaction during melt blending. © 2004 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci 92: 3167–3172, 2004