IT-business alignment, big data analytics capability, and strategic decision-making: Moderating roles of event criticality and disruption of COVID-19.

Prior research has confirmed the importance of IT-business alignment (ITBA) and big data analytics capability (BDAC) in supporting firms' strategic decision-making under normal circumstances. However, the global outbreak of COVID-19 has significantly changed firms' strategic decision-making landscapes and raised questions regarding the effects of ITBA and BDAC on strategic decision-making as conditioned by COVID-19 characteristics. In this study, we contextualize two important event impact factors (i.e., event criticality and event disruption) in the context of COVID-19 and examine their contingent roles in the effects of ITBA and BDAC on strategic decision-making. Our analyses, based on two-round, multi-respondents matched survey data collected from 175 Chinese firms to elucidate the differential moderating roles of event criticality and disruption of COVID-19 in the impact of ITBA and BDAC on strategic decision speed and quality. The results indicate the event criticality of COVID-19 strengthens the effects of ITBA on decision speed and quality but weakens the influence of BDAC on decision quality. Meanwhile, the event disruption of COVID-19 weakens the influence of ITBA on decision speed and quality but strengthens the effect of BDAC on decision speed and quality. These findings have important theoretical and practical implications, which we discuss in the conclusion.

Intelligent pH indicator films containing anthocyanins extracted from blueberry peel for monitoring tilapia fillet freshness.

BACKGROUND: Fish spoilage leads to an increase in the pH value of the fish. A colorimetric pH indicator can be used to monitor fish spoilage and has been exploited in intelligent packaging because of its simplicity, practicality and low cost. The aim of this study was to develop two pH-indicator films comprising starch (S), tara gum (TG), polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) and anthocyanins extracted from blueberry peel and the films were then used to monitor the freshness of tilapia fillets during storage at 25 and 4 °C. RESULTS: The ultraviolet-visible (UV-visible) spectra and color of anthocyanins changed within pH 2-10. Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy, UV-visible spectrophotometry and scanning electron microscopy certified that blueberry peel extract (BPE) had been introduced into the S/PVA and TG/PVA matrices. Visual color changes in the films occurred at pH 2-8. A freshness application test was conducted in tilapia fillets stored at 4 and 25 °C, and visual color changes in the films were observed. The TG/PVA/BPE film had a greater color difference (ΔE) from pink and transparent to dark yellow at 25 °C and to dark purple at 4 °C than ΔE of S/PVA/BPE film, which sufficiently correlated with the change of total volatile base nitrogen (TVB-N) and total aerobic counts (TACs) of fillets. CONCLUSION: It can be concluded that the color changes of TG/PVA/BPE films were corresponded with TVB-N and TAC values of tilapia fillets, which presented great potential as a visual package label to monitor fish freshness at ambient and chilled temperatures. © 2020 Society of Chemical Industry.

Does government social media promote users' information security behavior towards COVID-19 scams? Cultivation effects and protective motivations.

Cybercriminals are taking advantage of the COVID-19 outbreak and offering COVID-19-related scams to unsuspecting people. Currently, there is a lack of studies that focus on protecting people from COVID-19-related cybercrimes. Drawing upon Cultivation Theory and Protection Motivation Theory, we develop a research model to examine the cultivation effect of government social media on peoples' information security behavior towards COVID-19 scams. We employ structural equation modeling to analyze 240 survey responses collected from social media followers of government accounts. Our results suggest that government social media account followers' participation influences their information security behavior through perceived severity, perceived vulnerability, self-efficacy, and response efficacy. Our study highlights the importance of government social media for information security management during crises.

Effects of Puerarin on Clinical Parameters, Vascular Endothelial Function, and Inflammatory Factors in Patients with Coronary Artery Disease.

BACKGROUND The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of puerarin on vascular endothelial function and inflammatory factors in coronary artery disease (CAD) patients with stable angina pectoris (SAP). MATERIAL AND METHODS To evaluate the effects of angina pectoris, the differences of scores of the Seattle angina questionnaire (SAQ), vascular endothelial function [endothelial progenitor cells (EPCs), nitric oxide (NO) and endothelin 1 (ET-1)], and inflammatory factors [tumor necrosis factor a (TNF-α), hypersensitive C-reactive protein (hs-CRP), interleukin-6 (IL-6)] in 2 groups were assessed before and after treatment. RESULTS Regarding the curative effect of angina pectoris, the total effective rate of the treatment group was significantly superior to that of the control group (89% vs. 65%, P<0.05). The duration of angina pectoris, the number of abnormal leads, the improvement of the ST segment depression of electrocardiogram, and the scores of SAQ life quality indexes in the treatment group were better than those of the control group (P<0.05). In the 2 groups, EPCs and NO were both elevated, while ET-1 was decreased, and the improvements of the treatment group were superior to those of the control group (P<0.05). After treatment, the average levels of serum TNF-α, hs-CRP and IL-6 in the 2 groups were all decreased, which the treatment group showed a much sharper decrease than in the control group (P<0.05). CONCLUSIONS Puerarin effectively improves clinical symptoms and vascular endothelial function and reduces the levels of inflammatory factors in patients with CAD.

Application of a Blockchain Platform to Manage and Secure Personal Genomic Data: A Case Study of LifeCODE.ai in China.

BACKGROUND: The rapid development of genetic and genomic technologies, such as next-generation sequencing and genome editing, has made disease treatment much more precise and effective. The technologies' value can only be realized by the aggregation and analysis of people's genomic and health data. However, the collection and sharing of genomic data has many obstacles, including low data quality, information islands, tampering distortions, missing records, leaking of private data, and gray data transactions. OBJECTIVE: This study aimed to prove that emerging blockchain technology provides a solution for the protection and management of sensitive personal genomic data because of its decentralization, traceability, encryption algorithms, and antitampering features. METHODS: This paper describes the case of a blockchain-based genomic big data platform, LifeCODE.ai, to illustrate the means by which blockchain enables the storage and management of genomic data from the perspectives of data ownership, data sharing, and data security. RESULTS: Blockchain opens up new avenues for dealing with data ownership, data sharing, and data security issues in genomic big data platforms and realizes the psychological empowerment of individuals in the platform. CONCLUSIONS: The blockchain platform provides new possibilities for the management and security of genetic data and can help realize the psychological empowerment of individuals in the process, and consequently, the effects of data self-governance, incentive-sharing, and security improvement can be achieved. However, there are still some problems in the blockchain that have not been solved, and which require continuous in-depth research and innovation in the future.

Understanding the Antecedents and Effects of mHealth App Use in Pandemics: A Sequential Mixed-Method Investigation.

Pandemics such as COVID-19 pose serious threats to public health and disrupt the established systems for obtaining healthcare services. Mobile health (mHealth) apps serve the general public as a potential method for coping with these exogenous challenges. However, prior research has rarely discussed the antecedents and effects of mHealth apps and their use as a coping method during pandemics. Based on the technology acceptance model, empowerment theory, and event theory, we developed a research model to examine the antecedents (technology characteristics and event strength) and effects (psychological empowerment) of mHealth apps and their use. We tested this research model through a sequential mixed-method investigation. First, a quantitative study based on 402 Chinese mHealth users who used the apps during the COVID-19 pandemic was conducted to validate the theoretical model. A follow-up qualitative study of 191 online articles and reviews on mHealth during the COVID-19 pandemic was conducted to cross-validate the results and explain the unsupported findings of the quantitative study. The results show that (1) the mHealth app characteristics (perceived usefulness and perceived ease of use) positively affect mHealth app use; (2) mHealth app use positively affects the psychological empowerment of mHealth users; and (3) the characteristics of pandemic events (event criticality and event disruption) have positive moderating effects on the relationship between mHealth app characteristics and mHealth app use. This study explains the role of mHealth apps in the COVID-19 pandemic on the micro-level, which has implications for the ways in which mHealth apps are used in response to public pandemics.

Effect of curcumin on down-expression of thrombospondin-4 induced by oxidized low-density lipoprotein in mouse macrophages.

This study was designed to investigate the effect of curcumin on the expression of thrombospondin-4 (THBS-4) in mouse macrophages treated with oxidized low-density lipoprotein (oxLDL). The mouse macrophage cell line ANA-1 was treated with oxLDL. Cell viability was measured by MTT assay. ANA-1 cells were divided into five groups: control group, model group, 5 µM curcumin group, 15 µM curcumin group and 25 µM curcumin group. The gene and protein expression levels of THBS-4 in each group were determined by real-time quantitative polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and western blotting, respectively. MTT assay showed that curcumin concentrations up to 25 µM and oxLDL concentrations up to 20 µg/ml had no significant cytotoxic effects on macrophages at 24 h. Real-time quantitative PCR revealed that THBS-4 mRNA expression was markedly reduced by stimulation with oxLDL, but subsequently significantly increased by treatment with curcumin. Western blotting confirmed that curcumin (5, 15, and 25 µM) significantly prevented the decrease in THBS-4 expression induced by oxLDL (20 µg/ml) in macrophages. Curcumin prevents the decrease in THBS-4 expression induced by oxLDL, which may represent one of the anti-atherosclerotic mechanisms of curcumin.

Effects of different freezing treatments on the biogenic amine and quality changes of bighead carp (Aristichthys nobilis) heads during ice storage.

The effects of different freezing treatments on the quality changes of bighead carp heads were evaluated in terms of pH value, TBARS, TVB-N, K-value, biogenic amine, total aerobic counts (TACs), drip loss, cooking loss and electrical conductivity (EC) during ice storage. Fish heads were stored at -40°C (T1), -40°C for 12h and then -18°C (T2), -18°C (T3) for 3months prior to ice storage. No significant differences were observed among T1, T2 and T3 for drip loss, cooking loss and EC (p>0.05). T2 showed lower TACs, pH value, TBARS and TVB-N than T3 did. Significant lower value of spermine and spermidine were observed in T1, T2 and T3 than those of control group (fresh) from 9th to 18th day (p<0.05). Drip loss was significantly correlated with TBARS, pH value, TVB-N, and TACs in groups T1, T2 and T3 (p<0.05).