Search results

Purpose
Social shopping website (SSW) introduce the social side into the shopping process, thus making "window" shopping or browsing more interesting for customers. The purpose of this paper is to investigate customer online browsing experience and its antecedents (i.e. information quality and social interaction) and consequences (i.e. urge to buy impulsively and continuous browsing intention) in the context of SSW.


Design/methodology/approach
A survey questionnaire was distributed to visitors of online SSW to collect data, and partial least squares technology was used to test the research model.


Findings
The results of this study reveal that three types of web browsing, namely, utilitarian browsing, hedonic browsing and social browsing, take place in a SSW. The unique factors of SSW, namely, the quality of user generated contents and social interaction are critical for facilitating customers' browsing experiences. Furthermore, the findings reveal that hedonic browsing experience is found to be the most salient factor influencing customers' urge to buy impulsively and continuance intention.


Practical implications
The findings suggest that practitioners, such as designers and managers of SSW should give special attention to the benefits of browsing activity to convert web browsers into impulse purchasers and increase customers' loyalty. Moreover, they should focus on improving the quality of user generated content and pay more attention to support and encourage social interaction to enhance browsing experiences on a SSW.


Originality/value
Existing studies about browsing behavior mostly focus on traditional online e-commerce website. This study represents the first step toward understanding browsing activity on SSW. Moreover, prior studies mainly focused on utilitarian and hedonic browsing experience; however, there is a lack of research on social browsing experience. The current study attempts to fill this research gap.

The intensive use of pesticides has attracted great attention from the Chinese government. However, current regulations have had limited influence on their safe use. Although the acute neurologic effects of pesticides have been well documented, little is known about their cumulative effects. Knowledge of the impact of pesticides on health may convince farmers to minimize their use. We conducted a cross-sectional study in three provinces of China to evaluate the relationship between pesticide exposure and neurological dysfunction. Crop farmers were divided into two groups depending on their level of pesticide exposure. A total of 236 participants were assessed by questionnaire and neurological examination for symptoms and signs of neuropathy. Characteristics of neurologic dysfunction following cumulative low-level exposure were assessed with logistic regression analysis. Farmers exposed to high-level pesticide use had greater risk of developing sensations of numbness or prickling (odds ratio (OR) 2.62, 95% confidence interval (CI): 1.08–6.36). After adjusting for recent exposure, the risk of numbness or prickling symptoms (OR 2.55, 95% CI: 1.04–6.25) remained statistically significant. Loss of muscle strength and decreased deep tendon reflexes had OR > 2, however, this did not reach statistical significance. These findings suggest that overuse of pesticides increased risk of neurologic dysfunction among farmers, with somatosensory small fibers most likely affected. Measures that are more efficient should be taken to curb excessive use of pesticides.

Doudou Huang,1,2,* Zenan Du,1,2,* Yanhong Chen,3,* Zhiying Dong,1 Xiujuan Wang,1 Mengshuang Li,1 Feng Zhang,3,* Wansheng Chen,2,3 Lianna Sun1 1Department of TCM Processing, Shanghai University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Shanghai, People's Republic of China; 2Institute of Chinese Materia Medica, Shanghai University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Shanghai, People's Republic of China; 3Department of Pharmacy, Changzheng Hospital, Second Military Medical University, Shanghai, People's Republic of China*These authors contributed equally to this workCorrespondence: Lianna Sun; Wansheng Chen Tel/Fax +86-21-51322211Email sssnmr@163.com; chenwansheng@smmu.edu.cnPurpose: Diabetes is a common disease caused by a combination of genetic and environmental factors, which was the top three diseases threatening human health. Therefore, it is necessary to seek more efficient hypoglycemic drugs. The main objective of this study was to investigate the potential hypoglycemic effects of compounds from Polygonum capitatum.Materials and Methods: Our experiments were divided into three steps: (1) α-amylase test and oral starch tolerance test (OSTT) for screening the biological extract part of P. capitatum; (2) chemical isolation and identification using various separation techniques, and spectrum methods; and (3) evaluation of α-amylase inhibitory activity of isolates and in silico analysis for mechanism investigation.Results: The n-butanol fractioned part of P. capitatum was confirmed to be the biological part according to α-amylase test. Then, two new triterpenoid saponins were isolated from the n-butanol part, which were also the first isolated triterpenoid saponins from P. capitatum. The activities of compounds 1 and 2 against α-amylase were 51.9± 2.8% and 38.1± 2.2%, respectively, which was consistent with the molecular docking analysis. In which, 1 and 2 showed the binding affinity energy for α-amylase was − 9.4 kcal/mol and − 7.8 kcal/mol, respectively.Conclusion: Two new triterpenoid saponins were firstly isolated from P. capitatum, and displays potency as a hypoglycemic agent through blocking α-amylase.Keywords: α-amylase, Polygonum capitatum, triterpene saponins, hypoglycemic

Jiuling Deng,1,* Ying Ma,2,* Yuqiong He,1,* Hong Yang,2 Yanhong Chen,2 Liang Wang,1 Doudou Huang,1 Shi Qiu,1,* Xia Tao,2 Wansheng Chen1 1Institute of Chinese Materia Medica, Shanghai University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Shanghai, 201203, People's Republic of China; 2Department of Pharmacy, Changzheng Hospital, Second Military Medical University, Shanghai, 200003, People's Republic of China*These authors contributed equally to this workCorrespondence: Wansheng ChenInstitute of Chinese Materia Medica, Shanghai University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Shanghai, 201203, People's Republic of ChinaTel +64 021 81886182Email chenwansheng@shutcm.edu.cnXia TaoDepartment of Pharmacy, Shanghai Changzheng Hospital, Second Military Medical University, Shanghai, 200003, People's Republic of ChinaTel +64 021 81886182Email taoxia2003@126.comPurpose: Isatis indigotica (Ii) is a cruciferous herb that is widely distributed in China, and its roots and leaves have been used in two renowned antipyretic detoxicate crude drugs in Chinese Pharmacopoeia, Radix (R) and Folium (F) Isatidis. However, the pharmacodynamic material basis and underlying mechanisms of the herbal efficacy remained to be elucidated.Methods: Ultra-performance liquid chromatography-quadrupole-time-of-flight mass spectrometry (UPLC-Q-TOF-MS) was adopted for the chemical profiling of R and F Isatidis. The active ingredients were screened out through the prediction of gastrointestinal absorption and druglikeness analysis using SwissADME. A herb-ingredient-target network was constructed through target prediction of the herbal active ingredients and anti-inflammation or anti-viral properties, followed by protein–protein interaction analysis. Then, the potential relevant signaling pathways were predicted by pathway enrichment. Finally, for verification, RAW 264.7 cell line was adopted to examine the anti-inflammatory and anti-viral activities of 6 representative ingredients in Ii.Results: Seventy-three compounds have been identified from Ii through UPLC-Q-TOF-MS. A total of 17 potential active ingredients were screened through pharmacokinetics and drug-likeness evaluation using SwissADME. It was shown that key targets might include TNF, AKT1, SRC, IL2, CASP9, and CASP3 in our herb-ingredient-target network, and isovitexin, a flavonoid, tended to participate in the inflammatory response, indoles were more likely to affect the cell proliferation processes, and lignans might have a broader affinity to key targets than the other active ingredients, such as regulating immune system (targeting IL-2) and PI3K-Akt signaling pathway. In vitro, indigo and secoisolariciresinol diglucoside markedly reduced TNF-α expression in Poly (I: C)-incubated cells. Isovitexin significantly inhibited TNF-α expression, and isatin treatment markedly reduced IL-1β expression in LPS-incubated cells.Conclusion: As the pharmacodynamics material basis of Ii, indoles, lignans, and flavonoids are believed to confer beneficial properties through various cellular aspects with multiple signaling pathways involved.Keywords: Isatis indigotica, UPLC-Q-TOF-MS, network analysis, bioassay analysis