Purpose-Building on the Chinese guanxi perspective, the purpose of this paper is to develop a theoretical model that explains the indirect effects of social support from friends on social commerce intentions, as mediated through the relational aspects that potential buyers develop with sellers. Design/methodology/approach-Hypotheses are tested with partial least squares (PLS)-graph applied to data collected via a survey of social media users (n ¼ 511). SPSS and PLS-graph are the statistical analysis tools used in this study. Findings-Relationship exists in social commerce interactions and its quality can be captured by swift guanxi and trust. These swift relationships matter as they drive users' behavioral intentions on social commerce sites. The informational and social support people receive from friends helps in improving the relationship quality and can indirectly influence user behaviors on these sites. Research limitations/implications-This study has relied on a convenient sampling and this may limit the generalizability of the findings. Future research should employ broader and more random sampling techniques to re-validate and extend the findings. Originality/value-The interpersonal aspect of relationship quality has received little attention in the social commerce literature. This study develops a theoretical model that explains consumers' intention in social commerce. The findings reveal the mechanisms through which different types of social support indirectly influence social commerce intentions. They provide a unique glimpse into consumer behavior in Chinese settings, in which the guanxi aspect of relationship quality highly matters.

Nitrogen­(N) and sulfur­(S) codoped carbon dots (N/S-CDs) are facilely developed by a one-pot hydrothermal process from thiourea and o-phenylenediamine as carbon precursors. The as-fabricated N/S-CDs reveal a high quantum yield of 26% and a large Stokes shift up to 106 nm under the excitation of 450 nm with good water dispersibility as well as antiphotobleaching. With addition of Fe3+, fluorescence quenching happens with a good linearity within 0.3–70 μM and a low detection limit of 0.19 μM. However, the quenched fluorescence could be rapidly recovered with the addition of monohydrogen phosphate ([HPO4]2–) due to formation of the stable complex [Fe­(HPO4)]+ by a competitive reaction between the N/S-CDs-Fe3+ complex and [HPO4]2–, a good linearity is in the range of 0.3–60 μM with a low detection limit of 0.27 μM. Thus, a significant “on–off–on” fluorescence response is performed with obvious color change from yellow-dark brown-yellow. In addition, the practical application and the confocal microscopic images all suggest that the N/S-CDs could target both Fe3+ and [HPO4]2– in living cells, implying that the N/S-CDs possess the diverse applications for Fe3+ and [HPO4]2– recognitions in biomedical fields.

BackgroundAbnormal neutrophils are involved in many chronic endocrine diseases, including type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM), and in periodontitis (PD), which is a chronic inflammatory disease in which neutrophils play a vital role. The p38 mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) signaling pathway participates in the apoptosis of many inflammatory cells. Additionally, 1,25-dihydroxyvitamin-D3 (1,25VitD3) as a regulator can induce responses to infection and tumor cell apoptosis. However, the effect of 1,25VitD3 in the pathogenic relationship between T2DM and PD remains unclear. The aim of this study was to assess the effect of 1,25VitD3 on neutrophil apoptosis in patients with T2DM and PD and the p38-MAPK-relevant signaling pathway mechanism in this process in vitro.MethodsNeutrophils were stained with Wright's stain, and apoptosis was detected by flow cytometry and Annexin V-fluorescein isothiocyanate (FITC)/propidium iodide (PI) staining. Apoptosis- and p38-related mRNAs and proteins were examined by real-time quantitative reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR), Western blotting and ELISA. The internal relationships were analyzed using a linear regression equation and Pearson's correlation coefficient.ResultsThe highest rate of neutrophil apoptosis occurred in cultures treated with 10–8 mol/L 1,25VitD3 in the T2DM-PD group. The apoptosis rate in the T2DM-PD-p38 inhibitor group was higher than that in the healthy control group. Western blot, ELISA and qRT-PCR results showed that the mRNA and protein expression profiles of Caspase-3 and Bax were highly up-regulated and that Bcl-2 was down-regulated in the T2DM-PD-p38 inhibitor group. The expression levels of apoptotic mRNAs and proteins in the T2DM and T2DM-PD groups were significantly higher than those in the T2DM-p38 and T2DM-PD-p38 inhibitor groups. 1,25VitD3-induced neutrophil apoptosis and phosphorylated p38 (p-p38) expression were partially inhibited by the p38 inhibitor. Expression levels of apoptosis-related genes and p-p38 in neutrophils were positively associated with increasing concentrations of 1,25VitD3. p-p38 protein expression was positively associated with the level of serum 1,25VitD3.Conclusion1,25VitD3 could promote peripheral blood neutrophil apoptosis in patients with T2DM and PD through activation of the p38-MAPK signaling pathway in vitro.

Nitrogen doped carbon dots (N-CDs) have been prepared via a one-pot hydrothermal method by using formamide and o-phenylenediamine as the carbon precursors for Fe3+ and HPO42− detection.

A turn-on spiropyran functionalized fluorescein derivative (FMC) is developed for targeting HS- in mitochondria. FMC exhibits very weak fluorescence at 525 nm under the excitation of 470 nm in aqueous...