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Purpose Although health question-and-answer (Q&A) communities have become popular in recent years, only a few communities have successfully retained and motivated their members to share knowledge. The purpose of this paper is to focus on the ways by which social capital and motivation influence knowledge sharing intention from the perspectives of health professionals and normal users in health Q&A communities. Design/methodology/approach The developed theoretical model integrates individual motivation and social capital theories. On the basis of a sample comprising 363 members from health Q&A communities in China, the authors tested the hypotheses by using structural equation modeling. Findings This study empirically finds that social capital positively affects intrinsic and extrinsic motivations, which then positively influence the intention of health professionals and normal users to share knowledge. Motivations of members fully mediate the effects of social capital on knowledge sharing intention. Specifically, intrinsic motivation influences knowledge sharing intention more for health professionals than for normal users, whereas extrinsic motivation influences knowledge sharing intention more for normal users than for health professionals. Originality/value This study explores the factors that affect the intentions of sharing knowledge in health Q&A communities by integrating social capital and motivation theories. Individual motivations can then bridge social capital and knowledge sharing intention. The effects of the intrinsic and extrinsic motivations of two user types were further examined and compared. These findings can extend the understanding of the underlying drivers of intention to share knowledge in the context of e-health.

PurposeIn China, healthcare services have historically been expensive and difficult to access, with resources being unfairly distributed, often being centralized in large hospitals in major cities. In rural regions, hospitals often suffer from limited supplies, including human capital and equipment. E-health technologies have received significant attention from governments and citizens, with online healthcare communities (OHCs) providing easier communication between patients and doctors. Although doctors play a pivotal role in the success of OHCs, they are often unsure how to attract patients, with limited research focusing on this. The purpose of this paper is to explore how doctors can take initiatives in OHCs, from the joint perspectives of individual effort (i.e. intrapersonal factor) and identity in medical teams (MTs) (i.e. interpersonal factor), based on attribution theory.Design/methodology/approachHierarchical linear regression was conducted on data from 3,170 doctors participating in 865 online MTs, to examine the effects of individual effort and identity in MTs on individual performance. Individual effort included central effort (log-in frequency to OHC) and peripheral effort (articles published on doctors' homepages). Identity in MTs was represented as the identity of team leader and multiple team membership (MTM).FindingsThis study found that the main variables – central and peripheral effort, and leader and MTM identity – all had significant and positive impacts on the service quantity (SQ) of both written and telephone consultations. Although positive effects could be experienced in most conditions that were congruent with the logic of identity theory, the interaction terms demonstrated complex influences. Specifically, leader identity did not moderate the effect of article effort in written consultation, while MTM identity could not moderate the relationship between frequency effort and SQ in telephone-consultation services. Further, the leader identity negatively moderated the relationship between article effort and SQ in telephone consultations. Thus, for doctors with the leader identity, the impact of article effort on SQ was weaker. In summary, both aspects were proved to play important roles in individual SQ.Practical implicationsThis study provides empirical findings through focusing on the SQ of both written and telephone consultations in OHCs, thereby enabling healthcare providers to take initiatives and ultimately improve the efficiency and provision of delivered healthcare services. It is worth mentioning that doctors possessing the identity of team leader should be cautious that the more articles published by them may not lead to envisaged telephone-consultation performance, according to the negative moderating effect of leader identity on the relationship between article effort and SQ during telephone consultations.Originality/valueThis study contributes to the OHC literature by investigating how doctors' efforts and identity in OHCs affect individual performance, based on attribution theory and identity theory. Further, we provide healthcare practitioners with an improved understanding of these dimensions to improve autonomy regarding service provision in OHCs.

Life style of phytoseiid species (Acari: Mesostigmata) is an important feature in evaluating their potential as biological control agents. Previous studies suggested that some morphometrics of gnathosoma are related to the feeding habits of phytoseiids. In this study, we showed it is appropriate to estimate feeding habits and/or life styles of phytoseiids based on variations in gnathosoma morphology. Scanning electron microscope pictures of 10 phytoseiid species belonging to four major life styles were taken. For each species, 23 morphometrics of gnathosoma and the length of dorsal shield were measured. Principle Component Analysis (PCA) showed that the 10 species can be divided into three groups based on the first two principle components of these parameters. The 1 st group includes one specialized predators of Tetranychus species (Phytoseiulus persimilis) and two selective predators of tetranychid mites (Neoseiulus pseudolongispinosus, Neoseiulus californicus), the 2 nd group includes six generalist predators (Amblyseius orientalis, Amblyseius swirskii, Amblyseius tsugawai, Neoseiulus barkeri, Neoseiulus bicaudus, Neoseiulus cucumeris), and the 3 rd group includes one specialized pollen feeder (Euseius utilis). This grouping is consistent with the life style division of McMurtry & Croft (1997), except that Type I and II were not separated. However, there is a trend that both Type II species were closer to each other. Overall, species in Group II have larger chelicerae and hypostome than those of Group I and III, while species in Group III have larger lobes and angle of fixed digit than those of the other two groups.

Several studies have reported the detection of herpesviruses (HVs) in bats. However, the prevalence and phylogenetic characteristics of HVs in bats are still poorly understood. To elucidate the epidemiological characteristics of bat HVs in southern China, 520 fecal samples from eight bat species were collected in four geographic regions of southern China. Of these samples, 73 (14.0 %) tested positive for HVs using nested polymerase chain reaction assay. Phylogenetic analysis revealed a high degree of molecular diversity of HVs in bats of different species from different geographic regions. Our study provides evidence for co-evolution of bats and HVs.