PurposeIn the era of human–AI symbiosis, artificial intelligence (AI) is increasingly reshaping cognition, knowledge production and labor structures. These transformations, in turn, place growing pressure on higher education institutions to reform entrepreneurship education (EE). This study aims to examine how AI-enabled EE influences students’ entrepreneurial competencies by uncovering the underlying psychological mechanisms that remain resistant to AI substitution.Design/methodology/approachGrounded in the Stimulus–Organism–Response (SOR) model, this study explores how AI-enabled EE influences university students’ entrepreneurial competencies. This study conceptualized “AI adoption in higher education (AAHE)” in “entrepreneurship education (EE)” as the stimulus (S), “perceived usefulness (PU)” and “entrepreneurial self-efficacy (ESE)” as organismic states (O) and “entrepreneurial competency (EC)” as the response (R). A sample of 558 undergraduates from Shanghai and Zhejiang, China’s AI hub, was surveyed, and hypotheses were tested by Structural Equation Modeling.FindingsThe empirical results showed AAHE positively predicted EE; AAHE and EE both boosted PU and ESE; and PU and ESE mediated the path to EC. These findings highlight the critical role of psychological mechanisms in translating AI integration into competencies development.Originality/valueThis study makes two key contributions: theoretically, it extends the application of the SOR model to AI-enabled EE and clarifies the mediating mechanisms of PU and ESE; practically, this research provides guidance for higher education institutions to cultivate students’ entrepreneurial competencies by optimizing AI integration.
As artificial intelligence transforms corporate operations globally, organizations face mounting pressure to integrate ethical AI practices within their corporate social responsibility (CSR) frameworks. This study investigates how corporate artificial intelligence ethics influences sustainable development outcomes, examining the critical role of international innovation as a moderator. Drawing on digital responsibility theory and technological ethical risk management frameworks, we analyze survey data from 449 corporations across China and Europe-two regions with distinct CSR regulatory environments and sustainability approaches. Our findings reveal that corporate AI ethics significantly enhances sustainable development performance, with this relationship strengthened by international innovation capabilities. While direct effects on innovation remain non-significant, international innovation amplifies the sustainability benefits of ethical AI practices, particularly in European firms where stringent ESG regulations prevail. Regional analysis uncovers that Chinese firms leverage innovation more effectively for sustainability outcomes, whereas European firms demonstrate stronger moderation effects. These results provide actionable insights for organizations seeking to align AI deployment with ESG objectives and offer practical guidance for developing accountability mechanisms in digital transformation. The study contributes to CSR literature by demonstrating how ethical technology governance creates value for multiple stakeholders while advancing environmental and social sustainability goals.
This paper examines how public pro-environmental behaviour influences corporate green performance. We construct a unique city-level measurement of public pro-environmental behaviour using the dataset from Ant Forest, an online welfare project by Alipay that encourages users to adopt low-carbon behaviours. Based on a sample of Chinese listed firms from 2018 to 2019, this paper finds that public pro-environmental behaviour has a significant influence on corporate green performance, and this impact is more pronounced in larger companies, those with less heavy pollution and those with political connections. Public pro-environmental behaviour promotes corporate green performance by increasing government attention to environmental protection. Additionally, in cities with strong pro-environmental behaviour, improvements in corporate green performance facilitate green innovation among enterprises, enhancing their green innovation performance. Overall, our findings offer new insights into how public pro-environmental perceptions influence firm-level sustainability practices.
Apricot, a member of the Rosaceae family, possesses considerable nutritional and economic value. However, browning reactions present a major challenge to maintaining its postharvest storage quality and shelf life. This study investigated the effect of combined treatment with intense pulsed light (IPL) and modified atmosphere packaging (MAP) on inhibiting browning in apricot during storage at 4 °C for 7 days. The research results indicated that the combined treatment exerted a more pronounced synergistic effect than individual treatments in delaying apricot fruit browning. IPL + MAP treatment reduced both polyphenol oxidase (PPO) and peroxidase (POD) activity and their corresponding gene expression levels, thereby inhibiting the browning degree of the fruit. Furthermore, it also enhanced the activity and gene expression levels of superoxide dismutase (SOD) and catalase (CAT), thereby preventing the accumulation of malondialdehyde (MDA) and the increase in relative conductivity, accelerating the clearance of superoxide anions (O2⁻) and hydrogen peroxide (H2O2), reducing membrane lipid peroxidation, and delaying the occurrence of browning. These findings provide a valuable technical support for the postharvest preservation of apricot fruit.
Copper cytotoxicity provides a viable way to fight microbial infections and cancer. While it is generally known that redox homeostasis in the mitochondria critically affects copper cytotoxicity, its precise impact remains elusive due to the lack of suitable characterization techniques. Here, we designed a multifunctional plasmonic nanosensor and propose the concept of a redox index, which combined allow dynamic real-time monitoring of the mitochondrial redox state during copper-induced cell death via surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy. This revealed significant redox swings throughout the cell death process and showed that reactive oxygen species (ROS) significantly elevated copper cytotoxicity. This understanding offers insight into the design of combinatorial therapeutic strategies. For example, we showed that the addition of micromolars of external ROS stimulants improved copper-based cancer treatment efficacy by >6 times. Beyond biological applications, we envisage that our nanosensor will become a useful tool for a wide range of applications based on redox chemistry.
