This study extends literature on e-commerce trust and repurchase intentions by exploring the role of swift guanxi and the perceived effectiveness of institutional mechanisms (PEEIM) in the context of ...a Chinese e-marketplace – Taobao. We explore how Taobao’s social media technologies (online reviews and instant messenger) can improve swift guanxi and PEEIM by increasing online interactivity and presence. We find that buyers’ PEEIM negatively moderates trust in online sellers and repurchase intentions. We show that swift guanxi, created by social media’s interactivity and presence, enhances trust, which further increases repurchase intentions. Theoretical and managerial implications and future research directions are discussed.
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to investigate what factors can affect people’s continuous watching and consumption intentions in live streaming.
Design/methodology/approach
This research ...conducted a mixed-methods study. The semi-structured interview was deployed to develop a research model and a live streaming typology. A survey was then used for quantitative assessment of the research model. Survey data were analyzed using partial least squares-structural equation modeling.
Findings
The results suggest that sex and humor appeals, social status display and interactivity play considerable roles in the viewer’s behavioral intentions in live streaming and their effects vary across different live streaming types.
Research limitations/implications
This research is conducted in the Chinese context. Future research can test the research model in other cultural contexts. This study can also be extended by incorporating the roles of viewer gender and price sensitivity in the future.
Practical implications
This study provides managerial insights into how live streaming platforms and streamers can improve their popularity and profitability.
Originality/value
The paper introduces a novel form of social media and a new business model. It illustrates what will affect people’s behavioral intentions in such a new context.
Construction is responsible for 50% of carbon emissions, 40% of energy consumption, and half of the landfill waste globally. To confront those environmental issues, stipulating appropriate strategies ...to drive construction firms towards corporate environmentally responsible (CER) activities is essential. However, the impact of CER on construction firms' financial performance (FP) is still inconclusive. This study aims to investigate the relationship between CER and FP in the architecture, engineering, and construction (AEC) industry. 141 publicly listed AEC companies were selected worldwide, and the results showed that CER increased the firms’ Return of Equity (ROE) and Economic Added Value (EVA) margin by 2.62% and 0.10%, respectively. Asset turnover contributed most to the increase of ROE. The spatial-temporal comparison results indicated that green listed firms' EVA margin had a promising trend while ROE fluctuated in different economic stages. The findings revealed decisive implications for AEC organizations to implement CER while maintaining the competitiveness of corporate profitability.
•An assessment of CER on construction firms' profitability was provided.•CER enhanced short- and long-term profitability by 2.62% and 0.10%.•Increased profitability was attributed by factors including asset turnover.•CER is more recognized in growth economic conditions than recessions.
Adult hippocampal neurogenesis (AHN) is associated with hippocampus-dependent cognitive function, and its initiation is attributed to neural stem cells (NSCs). Dysregulated AHN has been identified in ...Alzheimer's disease (AD) and may underlie impaired cognitive function in AD. Modulating the function of NSCs and stimulating AHN are potential ways to manipulate AD. Plasmalogen (PLA) are a class of cell membrane glycerophospholipids which exhibit neuroprotective properties. However, the effect of PLA on altered AHN in AD has not been investigated. In our study, PLA(10μg/mL) -attenuated Aβ (1-42) (5μM) induced a decrease in NSC viability and neuronal differentiation of NSCs, partially through regulating the Wnt/β-catenin pathway. Additionally, AD mice were supplemented with PLA (67mg/kg/day) for 6 weeks. PLA treatment improved the impaired AHN in AD mice, including increasing the number of neural stem cells (NSCs) and newly generated neurons. The memory function of AD mice was also enhanced after PLA administration. Therefore, it was summarized that PLA could regulate NSC differentiation by activating the Wnt/β-catenin pathway and ameliorate AD-related memory impairment through up-regulating AHN.
Memory impairment is a characteristic of brain aging, and it is associated with a decrease in neurogenesis. Therefore, enhancing neurogenesis is a potential method for mitigating brain aging. ...Nobiletin (NOB) is a natural polymethoxylated flavonoid derived from citrus peels. It acts as an antioxidant, enhances anti-inflammation, and displays neuroprotective properties. However, the mechanism of NOB on brain aging has not been elucidated. In this study, D-galactose-induced aging mice were treated with NOB (100 mg/kg/day) for 10 weeks. NOB administration attenuated D-galactose-induced memory impairment and restored hippocampal neurogenesis, including the number of newborn neurons and neural stem cells in mice. Furthermore, it downregulated the pro-inflammatory mediators IL-1 β, IL-6, and pP65 (by 42.2%, 22.9%, and 46.4% of those in the D-galactose treated group, respectively) in the hippocampus and blocked microglia and astrocyte activation. In vitro, NOB inhibited D-galactose-induced inflammatory responses in BV2 cells, and the conditioned medium prepared from NOB- and D-galactose-co-treated BV2 cells elevated the viability (90.3% of control) and differential ability (94.9% of control) of C17.2 cells, compared to the D-galactose-treated group alone. It was concluded that NOB could restore memory impairment via the improvement of neurogenesis by ameliorating neuroinflammation in the hippocampus. Overall, NOB is a potential candidate neurogenesis enhancer for improving brain function.
Reactive oxygen species (ROS) play an important role in regulating various physiological functions by activating specific ion channels to mediate cell growth, proliferation, regeneration, and ...apoptosis. ROS sensitive ion channels in the transient receptor potential (TRP) channel family are closely related to oxidative stress-related diseases. Therefore, it is of great significance to regulate ROS levels and their related ion channels. This review summarizes the role of five ROS sensitive ion channels, transient receptor potential M2 (TRPM2), transient receptor potential A1 (TRPA1), transient receptor potential V1 (TRPV1), transient receptor potential M7 (TRPM7) and transient receptor potential C5 (TRPC5), in oxidative stress-related diseases. In addition, the recent research progress of using nanomaterials to regulate oxidative stress-related diseases by targeting ROS-sensitive ion channels is summarized. It is hoped that this review will provide insights for researchers to regulate ROS-sensitive ion channels to alleviate related diseases.
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The development of emerging technologies promotes the transformation and upgrading of the retail business. However, the new retail service supply chain system’s node enterprises cannot meet quality ...supply and demand requirements, which leads to quality risks. The quality risks cascade through the system and are amplified, and thus affect overall performance. Therefore, it is necessary to clarify the law of quality risk transmission and realize risk control. In our work, (1) an improved model for quality risk transmission in the new retail service supply chain based on the infectious disease model is developed, (2) we introduce value co-creation rate and control factors from a value co-creation perspective, (3) and solve the threshold and equilibrium point of the service chain node, and conduct a simulation to reveal the quality risk transmission law. The main conclusions are as follows: (1) there is a threshold in the risk transmission system, the larger the threshold the more beneficial it is to control the transfer of risks; (2) the value co-creation rate influences the quality risk transmission process, with the susceptible state value co-creation rate significantly influencing the proportion of immune state numbers, while the opposite is true for the infected state value co-creation rate; (3) both inhibitory and facilitative control factors influence the transmission process of quality risk in the new retail service supply chain. Thus, the value co-creation behavior and risk control measures should be adopted in time to increase the transmission threshold to effectively curb the risk transmission. It will improve the overall quality level of the supply chain so that multiple stakeholders can achieve value co-creation.
With the rapid growth of Sentinel-1 synthetic aperture radar (SAR) data, how to exploit Sentinel-1 imagery and achieve effective and robust marine surveillance are crucial problems. In this paper, we ...present the OpenSARShip, a dataset dedicated to Sentinel-1 ship interpretation. The OpenSARShip, providing 11 346 SAR ship chips integrated with automatic identification system messages, owes five essential properties: specificality, large scale, diversity, reliability, and public availability. These properties make sure that the OpenSARShip achieves its objectives. The first is to provide researchers a benchmark dataset to develop applicable and adaptive ship interpretation algorithms and push the performance ceilings of data analysis. The other is to provide a dataset for performing application-oriented quality assessment for Sentinel-1 imagery, which can boost their applications in a targeting way. The construction and the organization of the OpenSARShip are discussed, which show the inside of the dataset and ensure the essential properties. The elaborate geometric and scattering analyses, the benchmark for classification, and the imagery applicability assessment by using the OpenSARShip all demonstrate the applicability and potential of the dataset.
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to identify antecedents of e-finance continuance intention with Alibaba’s Yu’E Bao as an example.
Design/methodology/approach
An online questionnaire was used to ...collect the data (n=293), and partial least squares structural equation modeling was employed for data analysis. Four e-finance features (perceived reputation, website quality, e-finance familiarity and situational normality) are introduced with trust acting as a moderator between the users’ satisfaction and continuance intention to use an e-finance platform.
Findings
The results find that website quality, familiarity and situational normality can influence perceived ease of use (PEOU) and perceived usefulness (PU). PEOU and PU, together with reputation, are positively associated with confirmation which further leads to satisfaction. The positive effects that satisfaction and trust have on e-finance continuance intention are confirmed, and trust is found to be a significant moderator on the relationship between satisfaction and continuance intention.
Practical implications
The findings can be used to guide e-finance providers to improve their platform design and services to retain users.
Originality/value
This study combines the theory of trust, Technology Acceptance Model and Expectations Confirmation Theory to investigate the factors that influence the continuance intention in the context of e-finance in China.
Purpose
Swift guanxi and trust can influence consumers’ decision making in social commerce. What factors will influence the formation of swift guanxi and trust between buyers and sellers in social ...commerce has not been clearly investigated. The purpose of this paper is to identify antecedents and impacts of swift guanxi and trust in social commerce.
Design/methodology/approach
An online questionnaire was used to collect the data, and Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modeling was employed for data analysis. Social support and presence are introduced as the antecedents for swift guanxi and trust, leading to the repurchase intention (RI) and social sharing intention of customers.
Findings
The results indicate that social support and presence can influence swift guanxi and trust. Social support and presence are positively associated with swift guanxi and trust which further lead to RI and social sharing intention.
Practical implications
The findings can be used to guide sellers in social commerce platforms to improve their services and make good use of platform features to improve customers’ perception of presence. To attract new customers and retain old customers, sellers should also build swift guanxi and trust through the recommendation and experience sharing of previous buyers on social media.
Originality/value
This study combines social support theory and presence theory to investigate the factors that influence customers’ purchase decision and social sharing intention in the context of social commerce in China. The integration of social support theory and presence theory explains both the social and technical factors that influence swift guanxi and trust in social commerce.
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