Relieving Effect of Rosa roxburghii Tratt. Juice Fermented by Lactobacillus paracasei SR10-1 on Dextran Sulfate Sodium-Induced Ulcerative Colitis in Mice

Objective: To investigate the protective effect of Rosa roxburghii Tratt. juice (RRTJ) fermented by Lactobacillus paracasei SR10-1 against ulcerative colitis (UC) in mice. Methods: SR10-1 fermented Rosa roxburghii Tratt. juice was prepared in the laboratory. A mouse model of UC induced by dextran sulfate sodium (DSS) was created. The experiments were designed using five groups, i.e., blank control, DSS-induced model, positive control (mesalazine), lactic acid bacteria fermented RRTJ (LAB-RRTJ) and RRTJ. Disease activity index (DAI) score, visceral organ indices, colon length, colon pathological changes, the levels of inflammatory factors including interleukin (IL)-1β, IL-6, IL-10, IL-17A, tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α) and interferon-γ (IFN-γ), the levels of oxidative stress indicators including malondialdehyde (MDA), superoxide dismutase (SOD) and glutathione (GSH), the activity of myeloperoxidase (MPO), and the expression levels of gut barrier-related genes (claudin-3, ZO-1 and MUC2) were analyzed in UC mice. Results: Compared with the DSS-induced model group, LAB-RRTJ significantly reduced the DAI score (P < 0.05), and relieved diarrhea, bloody stools, colonic atrophy and pathological changes of mice. In addition, the colon length was significantly increased (P < 0.001), and the spleen and liver indices were significantly decreased (P < 0.001 and P < 0.05, respectively). The levels of IL-1β, IL-6, IL-17A, TNF-α, and IFN-γ were significantly decreased (P < 0.05), while the level of IL-10 was significantly increased (P < 0.05). The levels of MDA and MPO were significantly decreased (P < 0.05), the activities of SOD and GSH were significantly increased (P < 0.001 and P < 0.05), and the expression levels of claudin-3, ZO-1 and MUC2 were significantly increased (P < 0.01). Conclusion: Fermented Rosa roxburghii Tratt. juice with Lactobacillus paracasei SR10-1 could reduce intestinal damage in UC mice by improving inflammatory responses and regulating the level of oxidative stress and intestinal barrier function

Industrial SO2 pollution and agricultural losses in China: evidence from heavy air polluters

This paper aims to assess the agricultural losses caused by the 2069 state-monitored heavily air polluting enterprises located in 899 Chinese counties. We examine the correlation between per capita number of state-monitored enterprises and other socio-economic indices to show the negative impacts of sulphur dioxide (SO2) industrial air pollution on agricultural development in the regions. Despite these enterprises being the main drivers of economic development in China’s counties, surrounding agricultural land continues to be degraded because of the associated SO2 emissions. The cost of agricultural losses due to pollution is estimated at US$ 1.43 billion, representing 0.66% of the total agricultural value added of the 899 Chinese counties. The findings highlight the importance of cleaner production and have policy implications for dealing with industrial air pollution

What factors determine whether a community will choose the pathway to sustainable development in China?

In this paper, we divide the communities in Central China into four groups, namely ecological high-poverty communities, non-ecological high-poverty communities, sustainable communities and non-ecological low-poverty communities. We use 2000 and 2006 data for 498 counties to conduct analysis and comparison between sustainable and unsustainable communities in order to define determinants of the development pathways to sustainable communities. The comparison of the variable means between the groups of ecological high-poverty communities and non-ecological high-poverty communities in 2006 indicates that there is no significant difference in the dimensions related to economy, society and environment, with the exception of average output value per industrial enterprise. The non-ecological low-poverty communities are more likely to have a higher proportion of secondary industry, higher total industrial output value, higher average output value per industrial enterprise and higher intensity of infrastructure construction, compared to the sustainable communities. The factors that determine whether the communities will choose the pathway to sustainable communities are found to be landscape, social conditions of secondary industry and agriculture and economic development level. Hence, the policies that aim at promoting sustainability for the unsustainable communities will have to focus on different strategies and actions for non-ecological high-poverty and non-ecological low-poverty communities

Benefits or costs? The effects of diversification with cross-industry knowledge on corporate value under crisis situation

Purpose: This paper aims to explore the explanations of “information effect” and “agency effect” of corporate diversification with cross-industry knowledge under a crisis situation. Design/methodology/approach: Based on an event study of 203 public companies’ crises in China between 2008 and 2018, the authors verify the information and agency effects of corporate diversification under a crisis situation by, respectively, examining the effects of interactions of corporate unrelated diversification with corporate transparency and knowledge deficiency attribution on the stock market’s responses to the crises. Findings: It is found that corporate unrelated diversification serves as a buffer in protecting firm value while attribution of knowledge deficiency can be a burden. The buffering effect is stronger when the corporate transparency is higher but weaker when the crisis is attributed to be caused by corporate tacit knowledge deficiency. Practical implications: Unrelated diversified firms should strengthen information communication with stakeholders so as to break down the stakeholders’ cross-industry knowledge barriers, and thus protect their own value at the crisis’ onset. Also, they can further buffer the loss by reducing stakeholders’ perceptions of the corporate tacit knowledge deficiency revealed in the crisis. Originality/value: This study is the first to illustrate that the information and agency effects of corporate diversification strategy can be partially explained under a crisis situation, which provides meaningful insights about how firms can conduct knowledge management in their daily operations to deal better with corporate crises

Time to take corporate innovation initiatives: The consequence of safety accidents in China’s manufacturing industry

Purpose: A bad safety accident at a manufacturing company usually results in casualties and economic losses. The company affected by such an accident must deal with pressure from multiple stakeholder groups. Employees, in particular, play a key role in pushing the affected company to develop strategies to improve occupational safety and health. The purpose of this paper is to seek answers to two questions: does a safety accident affect employee behavior in terms of giving up prospects to develop a career at the affected company? If yes, could innovation initiatives adopted by the company help moderate the negative consequences from a safety accident? Design/methodology/approach: By investigating 120 safety accidents reported by publicly listed Chinese manufacturing companies between 2009 and 2016, the authors conduct an empirical study using regression-based statistical hypotheses testing to describe the companies’ responses and prospects for their employees. Findings: The results show that the magnitude of the accident and the accident being caused by an employee error positively affect the turnover of employees. Furthermore, technical innovation initiatives, such as spending on R&D, by the accident-affected companies increase the positive effect of the accident magnitude on employee turnover. On the contrary, management innovation initiatives, such as corporate social responsibility activities, weaken the impact of the accident magnitude and employee error on employee turnover. Originality/value: This study contributes to knowledge development by adding a crisis perspective in human resource management research. It helps to better understand the impact of safety accidents on employee behavior and the response taken by companies through innovation initiatives

The role of emotion and social connection during the COVID-19 pandemic phase transitions: a cross-cultural comparison of China and the United States

Abstract Leveraging substantial data from China’s Weibo and datasets from Reddit and X (previously Twitter) in the United States, this research explores the disparities and complex dynamics of emotions and social connections among social media users in China and the United States during the COVID-19 pandemic. The findings indicate that the expression of three negative emotions (anxiety, sadness, and anger) and positive emotions exhibited distinctive dynamics under the impact of the pandemic, with China individuals expressing more anxiety but less sadness and anger than those in the US. Moreover, Chinese social media experienced a surge in positive emotional expressions under lockdown, whereas the US witnessed a conspicuous decline in positive emotions. Also, the expression of three types of social connections - “family”, “collective”, and “country”-exhibited significant differences under the impact of the pandemic, with Chinese individuals establishing deeper connections with their country and American individuals leaning towards familial connections. Further analysis on the moderating effects of social connections substantiated that the “country” connection in China and the “family” connection in the US mitigated the negative emotions affected by the pandemic. These findings facilitate a deeper understanding of how cultural contexts shape social and psychological responses in crises. Based on topic analysis and forward-looking orientation analysis, this study dissects the aforementioned findings through the dichotomy of collectivist and individualist cultures, providing new insights for social psychological support and emotional guidance in the development of public health communication strategies in the future

IMPULSIVE PURCHASE BEHAVIOUR IN SOCIAL COMMERCE: THE ROLE OF SOCIAL INFLUENCE

Social commerce (s-commerce), the use of social media to support e-commerce, has become pervasive nowadays. This paper aims to investigate into an important type of consumer behaviour that could generate considerable economic values for s-commerce: impulsive purchase. Specifically, we focus on the role of peer influence. Based on social influence theory, the process via which a consumer changes a peer’s behaviour is interpreted along two dimensions: informational and normative. To further explore the factors which lead to these influencing processes and impulsive consumptions, the reflective-impulsive model of consumer behaviour is adopted, which suggests that peripheral cues decide impulsive behaviour. As a result, a research model connecting peripheral cues with influencing processes and impulsive behaviour is proposed. Via a survey of Sina Weibo users, 303 responses were obtained to empirically teste the model. The results indicate that consumers’ expertise and trustworthiness are significantly related to both types of social influence they could exert on peers. Further, the s-commerce system’s support for personalization and social interaction could notably facilitate consumers’ exchange of social support, and therefore significantly facilitate social influence